254 SUPERSTITIONS. [1839 



who live a great way off, on a high mountain to the south- 

 west, and feed on honey. They also believe in an evil spirit, 

 or devil, called Wandong, or Metagong. 



They have no definite idea concerning a future state of 

 rewards and punishments. After death, they suppose the 

 spirit, or goor-de-mit, is conveyed through the bosom of the 

 ocean to some distant land, in which it then takes up its 

 residence. As he is obliged to pass through so much water, 

 the deceased person, as they suppose, is washed white • 

 hence, they deem the whites the returned spirits of theii 

 ancestors and friends. The Malays and Lascars are alsc 

 regarded as returned spirits, but on account of their bad 

 conduct they have been left black. 



The night-bird, or cuckoo, which the natives call pogo- 

 mit, is considered by them as the cause of boils and erup- 

 tions, which it produces by piercing them, when asleep, with 

 its beak. They have, also, a great dread of sharks; and 

 a fabulous aquatic monster, termed waugal, which they 

 represent as having long arms, long teeth, and large eyes, 

 and inhabiting the depths of the ocean, is regarded with simi- 

 lar emotions. Certain round stones found along the coast 

 they believe to be the eggs of the waugal, and when they 

 discover one of them, they always stop, and make a bed for 

 it, of leaves ; believing that by thus treating them with care 

 and veneration, they will be spared by the monster, which is 

 said sometimes to devour great numbers of the inhabitants. 



In sorcery and enchantment they are firm believers, and 

 there are persons among them, who are supposed to possess 

 the power of curing many of the ills that flesh is heir to, of 

 healing wounds and sores, and of dooming or devoting those 

 who fall under their displeasure to sudden death. If a fire 

 be lighted at night, or stirred with a crooked stick, it is 

 thought that some young child will immediately die. It is 

 considered ominous of ill, to burn the blood of a wounded 

 person ; to eat the flower of the honeysuckle too soon ; or to 

 sleep on the spot where the blood of a relative has been shed, 



