258 INDIAN 



That the successive demise of three or four 

 young people in a village, led to suspicion 

 of sorcery as the cause of it; and the inha- 

 bitants taking alarm, were upon the watch 

 to detect the witches. They were generally 

 discovered dancing naked at mid-night by 

 the light of a lamp, with a broom tied round 

 their waists, either near the house of a sick 

 person,, or on the outside of the village. 



To ascertain with a greater degree of 

 certainty the persons guilty of practising 

 witch-craft,, the three following modes arc 

 adopted. 



First. Branches of the Saul tree, marked 

 with the names of all the females in the 

 village, whether married or unmarried, who 

 have attained the age of twelve years, are 

 planted in the water in the morning, for 

 the space of four hours and a half; and the 

 withering of any of these branches is proof 

 of witch-craft against the person whose 

 name is annexed to it. 



