8o pFaat "bore, TsegcT^/, anSi laqric/. 



Should there be none, the tied-back leaves will, at any rate, stand 

 in evidence to the Nat or demon who presides over the forest. 

 Some of the Nats or spirits are known far and wide by special or 

 generic names. There is the Hmin Nat who lives in woods, and 

 shakes those he meets so that they go mad. There is the Akakasoh, 

 who lives in the tops of trees ; Shekkasoh, who lives in the trunk ; 

 and Boomasoh, who dwells contentedly in the roots. The presence 

 of spirits or demons in trees the Burman believes may always be 

 ascertained by the quivering and trembling of the leaves when all 

 around is still. 



Schweinfurth, the African explorer, tells us that, at the 

 present day, among the Bongos and the Niam-Niams, woods and 

 forests are regarded with awe as weird and mysterious places, the 

 abodes of supernatural beings. The malignant spirits who are 

 believed to inhabit the dark and gloomy forests, and who inspire 

 the Bongos with extraordinary terror, have, like the Devil, wizards, 

 and witches, a distinctive name : they are called bitdbohs ; whilst 

 the sylvan spirits inhabiting groves and woods are known as rangas. 

 Under this last designation are comprised owls of different species, 

 bats, and the ndovv, a small ape, with large red eyes and erect ears, 

 which shuns the light of day, and hides itself in the trunks of 

 trees, from whence it comes forth at night. As a protection 

 against the influence of these malignant spirits of the woods, the 

 Bongos have recourse to certain magical roots which are sold to 

 them by their medicine-men. According to those worthies no one 

 can enter into communication with the wood spirits except by 

 means of certain roots, which enable the possessor to exorcise 

 evil spirits, or give him the power of casting spells. All old 

 people, but especially women, are suspected of having relations, 

 more or less intimate, with the sylvan spirits, and of consulting 

 the malign demons of the woods when they wish to injure 

 any of their neighbours. This belief in evil spirits, which 

 is general among the Bongos and other tribes of Africa, exists 

 also among the Niam-Niams. For the latter, the forest is the 

 abode of invisible beings who are constantly conspiring to injure 

 man ; and in the rustling of the foliage they imagine they hear 

 the mysterious dialogues of the ghostly inhabitants of the 

 woods. 



The ancient German race, in whom there existed a deep 

 reverence for trees, peopled their groves and forests with a whole 

 troup of Waldgeister, both beneficent and malevolent. A striking 

 example is to be seen in the case of the Elder, in which dwells 

 the Hylde-moer (Elder-mother), or Hylde-vinde (Elder-queen), who 

 avenges all injuries done to the Elder-tree. On this account 

 Elder branches may not be cut until permission has been asked of 

 the Hylde-moer. In Lower Saxony the woodman will, on his 

 bended knee, ask permission of the Elder-tree before cutting it, 

 in these words: *' Lady Elder, give me some of thy wood ; then 



