A Black 'with a Devil. 73 



act of lying down to rest when a frightful scream made 

 us spring to our feet. There was something so un- 

 earthly in the yell that we could hardly believe it hu- 

 man. The next moment a figure bounded into the 

 little room that we occupied. It was a black, stark 

 naked. His tongue, half bitten through, protruded 

 from his mouth ; his bloodshot eyes, with a ghastly 

 stare, were straining from their sockets, and he stood 

 gazing at us with his arms extended wide apart. 

 Another horrible scream burst from him, and he fell 

 flat upon his back. 



The post-holder and a whole crowd of awakened 

 coolies now assembled, and they all at once declared 

 that the man had a devil. The fact is, he had a fit of 

 epilepsy, and his convulsions were terrible. Without 

 moving a limb he flapped here and there like a salmon 

 when just landed. I had nothing with me that would 

 relieve him, and I therefore left him to the hands of 

 the post-holder, who prided himself upon his skill in 

 exorcising devils. All his incantations produced no 

 effect, and the unfortunate patient suddenly sprung to 

 his feet and rushed madly into the thorny jungle. In 

 this we heard him crashing through like a wild beast, 

 and I do not know to this day whether he was ever 

 heard of afterward. 



The Cingalese have a thorough belief in the presence 

 of devils ; one sect are actually " devil-iuorsfa'pers," 

 but the greater portion of the natives are Bhuddists. 

 Among this nation the missionaries make very slow 

 progress. There is no character to work upon in the 

 Cingalese : they are faithless, cunning, treacherous 

 and abject cowards ; superstitious in the extreme, and 

 yet unbelieving in any one God. A converted Bhud- 



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