﻿APPENDIX. 
  171 
  

  

  an 
  impossibility 
  to 
  men 
  not 
  possessed 
  of 
  steel 
  ; 
  but 
  the 
  early 
  cultivators 
  

   may 
  have 
  raised 
  their 
  scanty 
  crops, 
  as 
  the 
  moderns 
  still 
  do, 
  off 
  banks, 
  

   left 
  on 
  the 
  subsidence 
  of 
  the 
  annual 
  inundation 
  ; 
  and 
  a 
  stone-headed 
  

   spud 
  would 
  be 
  ample 
  for 
  such 
  a 
  purpose, 
  either 
  to 
  drill 
  holes 
  for 
  the 
  

   reception 
  of 
  the 
  seed, 
  or 
  to 
  weed 
  up 
  the 
  rank 
  crop 
  of 
  grass, 
  which 
  in 
  

   such 
  spots 
  would 
  contend 
  for 
  mastery 
  with 
  the 
  artificial 
  crop. 
  

  

  The 
  Burmese 
  call 
  these 
  implements 
  ' 
  Mo-jio,' 
  c 
  Thunder 
  chain- 
  5 
  or 
  

   ' 
  Thunder-bolt/ 
  and 
  believe 
  that 
  they 
  descend 
  with 
  lightning-, 
  and 
  after 
  

   penetrating 
  the 
  earth, 
  work 
  their 
  way 
  back 
  by 
  degrees 
  to 
  the 
  surface, 
  

   where 
  they 
  are 
  found 
  scattered 
  about 
  the 
  fields, 
  among 
  the 
  lower 
  hills, 
  

   usually 
  after 
  rain, 
  or 
  on 
  removing 
  the 
  crops. 
  The 
  true 
  c 
  Mo-jio' 
  is 
  sup- 
  

   posed 
  to 
  possess 
  many 
  occult 
  virtues, 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  common 
  to 
  find 
  one 
  

   which 
  does 
  not 
  show 
  signs 
  of 
  having 
  been 
  chipped 
  or 
  scraped 
  for 
  medi- 
  

   cinal 
  purposes. 
  

  

  One 
  of 
  the 
  chief 
  virtues 
  of 
  the 
  ' 
  Mo-jio' 
  is 
  to 
  render 
  the 
  person 
  

   of 
  the 
  wearer 
  invulnerable 
  ; 
  and 
  many 
  an 
  unlucky 
  ' 
  Mo-jio' 
  has 
  suc- 
  

   cumbed 
  to 
  the 
  popular 
  test, 
  which 
  is 
  to 
  wrap 
  it 
  in 
  a 
  cloth 
  and 
  fire 
  a 
  

   bullet 
  at 
  it 
  at 
  short 
  range. 
  If 
  the 
  man 
  misses 
  the 
  cloth, 
  the 
  authen- 
  

   ticity 
  and 
  power 
  of 
  the 
  charm 
  is 
  at 
  once 
  established; 
  if 
  the 
  stone 
  is 
  

   fractured, 
  it 
  is 
  held 
  to 
  be 
  not 
  a 
  real 
  ' 
  Mo-jio/ 
  Other 
  less 
  severe 
  tests 
  

   are 
  also 
  applied. 
  "Fowls, 
  it 
  is 
  supposed, 
  will 
  not 
  venture 
  near 
  rice 
  on 
  

   which 
  a 
  real 
  f 
  Mo-jio' 
  is 
  lying. 
  Fire 
  will 
  not 
  consume 
  a 
  house 
  which 
  

   contains 
  one, 
  (though 
  I 
  never 
  heard 
  of 
  this 
  ordeal 
  being 
  attempted). 
  

   A 
  plantain 
  tree 
  cut 
  down 
  with 
  one, 
  will 
  not 
  sprout 
  up 
  again 
  ; 
  and 
  last, 
  

   but 
  not 
  least 
  in 
  esteem, 
  is 
  the 
  known 
  fact 
  that 
  the 
  owner 
  of 
  a 
  real 
  

   1 
  Mo-jio' 
  can 
  cut 
  a 
  rainbow 
  in 
  half 
  with 
  it. 
  The 
  philosopher 
  may 
  

   smile, 
  but 
  what 
  civilized 
  people 
  is 
  there 
  in 
  a 
  position 
  of 
  intellectual 
  

   superiority 
  to 
  justify 
  their 
  looking 
  down 
  contemptuously 
  on 
  the 
  harmless 
  

   credulity 
  of 
  a 
  simple-minded 
  race? 
  Assuredly 
  not 
  those 
  claiming 
  highest 
  

   intellectual 
  rank, 
  yet 
  who 
  are 
  still 
  far 
  from 
  having 
  outgrown 
  a 
  debasing 
  

   belief 
  in 
  miracle, 
  and 
  a 
  slavish 
  fear 
  of 
  the 
  priest. 
  

  

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