KAFIR SUPERSTITIONS. 



277 



In the Kafirs this emotion runs riot. It impels them to 

 perpetrate the most diaboHcal cruelties. 



They believe that the spirit of a dead Kafir has the power of 

 influencing the survivors of his own family for good or evil. So 

 far the belief is reasonable enough, but the Kafir firmly believes 

 that if cattle, goats, fowls, etc., are sacrificed to this spirit relative, 

 then their spirits go to him and help swell his herd of spirit cattle, 

 etc., in the shades below. He does not mind his friends feasting 



Fig. 1 12. — Applying the test to see if the snake is obsessed by the spirit of 

 a beloved relative or a foe. (After J. G. Wood.) 



upon the flesh of the sacrificed animal. All he covets is the 

 spirit of the creature. If he considers that his friends on earth 

 are neglecting him, he pays them a visit, and afflicts them 

 or their domestic animals with disease. If the disease should 

 be severe, then the relatives imagine that nothing short of the 

 sacrifice of a cow or ox will appease the indignant deceased 

 relative. If the sickness should be a minor one, then a goat is 

 thought to be adequate. Sheep never seem to be used for these 

 sacrifices. 



These dissatisfied or revengeful spirits sometimes come in 

 their own form, but usually they appear in the form of some 



