228 INDIAN CUSTOMS. 



village is pronounced ; the appearance of the 

 shadow of any woman on the water, during this 

 ceremony, proves her a witch. 



Such are the general rules for ascertaining 

 those who practice witch-craft. In the instance 

 which I have quoted, the witnesses swore, and 

 probably believed, that all the proofs against the 

 unfortunate women had been duly verified : they 

 asserted in evidence, that the branches marked 

 with the names of the five women accused were 

 withered ; that the rice in the bags having their 

 specific names, was devoured by the white ants, 

 whilst that in the other bags remained untouched ; 

 that their shadows appeared on the water, on the 

 oil being poured upon it whilst their names were 

 pronounced ; and, farther, that they were seen 

 dancing at midnight in the situation above 

 described. 



It is difficult to conceive that this coincidence 

 of proof could have been made plausible to the 

 grossest ignorance, if experience did not shew 

 that preposession will supersede the evidence of 

 the senses. 



