INHABITANTS OF THE HILLS. 125 



her. She was stoned to death, and her father 

 or brother (I do not recollect which,) threw the 

 first stone. Several people, among whom were 

 some of her near relatives, were apprehended by 

 the magistrate, tried for the murder, and con- 

 demned by the circuit judges, who forwarded a 

 representation of the whole affair to the Governor 

 General, by whom a special deputation was sent 

 to inquire into the particulars of the prevailing 

 custom. The consequence was, the criminals 

 were forgiven, but a proclamation was issued, 

 forbidding the practice in future, on penalty of 

 death. 



Whenever a woman had been found by her 

 cast, guilty of witchcraft, it had been the custom, 

 from time immemorial, to suspend around her 

 neck, two earthen pots, half filled with sand or 

 stones, and then to throw her into the water. If 

 she sunk, they considered her innocent, and 

 endeavoured to save her, but if she floated, they 

 stoned her to death.* 



derived from the word paunch, signifying five, which I 

 imagine were the original number of persons; and our 

 beverage punch, I suspect, has the same origin, from its 

 consisting of five ingredients. 



* Exodus, Chap. xxii. v. 18, " Thou shall not suffer a 

 " witch to live." 



