106 
The Kacharis regard sickness as frequently due to this cause ; 
and, having discovered by divination the old woman exercising 
the spell, they flog her until she confesses, and then drive her 
from the village. This belief in witches, and wizards as well, 
appears to be most prevalent among the Kol tribes of Central 
India. Sometimes a magician pretends to have discovered 
that the evil influence proceeds from a rival in another village. 
The latter is then summoned and beaten until he finds it best 
to admit his fault. If he is unable to undo the evil caused by 
his spell, the beating continues, sometimes with fatal results. 
If the Gonds have reason to think that death has been caused 
by witchcraft, the funeral rites are postponed until the sorcerer 
has been pointed out. This is accomplished by the aid of the 
corpse. ‘They first make a solemn appeal to it, and then 
taking it up carry it about the village. It will lead the bearers 
to the house of the guilty person, and if this is done three 
times it is regarded as conclusive evidence, and summary 
vengeance is inflicted upon him. It is easy to see that this is 
a convenient way to get rid of an obnoxious individual. 
Witches are supposed to have demon lovers, with whom they 
dance and sing at night in the forest. The Khonds believe 
that some women can transform themselves into tigers; and 
occasionally individuals endeavour to spread this impression 
regarding themselves in order to extort presents from their 
neighbours as the price of immunity from their ravages. 
Trial by ordeal is also resorted to by the Gonds for the convic- 
tion of a person suspected of witchcraft ; but it is so arranged 
as to make escape impossible in any case. The woman is 
securely bound and thrown into deep water. Jf she swims, 
she is guilty ; if she sinks, she is drowned. Or the witch is 
beaten with castor-oil rods; if she feels pain, it is proof of 
guilt. Women, and those not always the old and ugly, are 
more often suspected of the black art than men are. 
We have reserved to this place an important feature of the 
religion of the aboriginal tribes of India, namely, their views 
concerning a future life and the customs connected therewith. 
While it is true that savage races generally have held to the 
survival of the soul after death, their notions regarding the 
character of the future life and its bearings upon the present 
existence have greatly varied. Among the lowest tribes the 
future life has been commonly imagined to be a continuation 
of the present life, though under conditions more favourable 
for physical enjoyment. In a more advanced stage of society, 
where the moral powers have reached a fuller development, 
men have looked upon that«life as an opportunity to balance 
the accounts of this life, to render to every man according to 
