1. I am indebted to Thembinkosi Dyeyi of East London, South Africa, for translating and interpreting the transcription of this Western Cape event.

2. In some interpretations of Zulu divination, this agreement, contained in the verb vuma , is turned into confession, ukuvuma , which is extracted from the client by the diviner after a series of interrogations. Axel-Ivar Berglund offers a vivid account of a divination of this sort in the context of Zulu independent Christians (Berglund 1989:113-115).

3. Blacking's identification of other song styles in the universe of all Venda initiation music includes: nyimbo dza u sevhetha , songs for dancing round, sung by girls dancing counterclockwise around the drums, including a "song of dismissal" and a "recruiting song"; nyimbo dza vhahwira , songs of the masked dancers, with varying tempo to accompany different phases of the dance and distinctive rhythms to mark various steps; and nyimbo dza milayo , songs of the laws of the school, sung by novices and any graduates present (1973:40é41).