Crossword-Solution: DAWA 4 letters, 1 clue 🏆 scrabble score: 8

Like most other natives of Africa, the Wa Taita are exceedingly superstitious, and this failing is turned to good account by the all-powerful "witch-doctor" or "medicine-man." It is, for instance, an extraordinary sight to see the absolute faith with which a Ki Taita will blow the simba-dawa, or "lion medicine ", to the four points of the compass before lying down to sleep in the open.

This dawa--which is, of course, obtainable only from the witch-doctor--consists simply of a little black powder, usually carried in a tiny horn stuck through a slit in the ear; but the Ki Taita firmly believes that a few grains of this dust blown round him from the palm of the hand is a complete safeguard against raging lions seeking whom they may devour; and after the blowing ceremony he will lie down to sleep in perfect confidence, even in the midst of a man-eater's district.

The medicine _Dawa_ is of no use without the magic words, and the magic words are of no use without the medicine.

The chief exports are cattle, _dawa-dawa_ (a favourite flavouring matter for soup among the Ashanti and other tribes) and shea-butter--the latter used in cooking and as an illuminant.

The chief food of these islanders consists of fish, cocoa-nuts, taro, and the fruit of the pandanus (_dawa_); only at rare intervals do they taste pork or poultry.