Vol. I, No. 8.] The People of Mungels Lahsil. 189 
fen. S.] 
has several meanings, ‘“‘a spirit of the dead, a goblin spirit, evil 
sprite, fiend, etc.” Here I find it is commonly used to mean an 
elf or fairy, not necessarily a being with evil influences. Pretins 
are said to assume the form of women and frequent the bazars. 
By their superhuman powers they can take away articles from 
the stalls of tradesmen without being detected. A woman with 
a crooked nose is suspected of being a Pretin. The story is told 
of a Raut (milk-man) who was returning from a bazar when he 
saw a Pretin, most beautiful to look upon, fomenting her child 
under a Baer tree. He persuaded her to go to his house, but he 
hid her sai ina hollow bamboo, The Pretin lived happily with 
the Raut and they had three sons. At the marriage of the eldest 
son the neighbours asked the mother to dance and amuse them. 
She refused to do this unless she was given her own sari, which 
the Raut had hidden. Persuaded by his guests the man at last 
produced the hidden sari from the hollow bamboo. Scarcely 
had the woman put it on when she became invisible and dis- 
appeared, never to return. It is said that the descendants of the 
three sons of this Pretin are still in this district, but no one has 
ventured to inform me just where they may be found. Students 
of folklore will recognize in this story the widespread belief that 
the influence of fairies, giants, etc., lies in some special object, 
€.g., Samson’s strength being in his hair. (4) It is believed that 
some have the power of placing a Pretix in a flute or fiddle, and 
in this case the instrument will make music of its own accord 
without any human assistance. 
65. Deserting Houses—I have been told that amongst the 
jungle people of this district if a death should take place, the 
entire settlement, never very large, moves away to another site, 
doubtless because of the belief that the deceased will frequent his 
former abode. Amongst the people of this Tehsil, who live in 
larger and more settled villages and hamlets, there is an inclina- 
tion to desert the house in which a death has occurred, and 
to build another house on another site. Higher up in the grades 
of civilzation we find a desire to withdraw from the room in 
which one has died, if not from the belief that it is haunted, 
then on account of the unpleasant associations. Amongst the 
people of whom I write, if a house is to be deserted it will be 
leepoed, a lamp lighted, and the residents will withdraw. 
66. Punishment of Witches.—If I was to tell of all the witch 
stories which are told amongst the people, these notes would have 
to swell out to undue proportions. Perhaps I should mention that 
Chhattisgarh has long had a reputation for witchcraft and similar 
cults. Sleeman, writing as far back as 1835 in his Rambles and 
Recollections, mentions these parts as having an unfavourable 
reputation. It is currently reported that in the old days when 
a witch was found she would be tied to the horns or the legs of 
a buffalo, and the buffalo was then infuriated till the victim 
was killed. 
67. A Ouse of “ Possession.’’—It was on the night of the 9th of 
August, 1901, that Lhad the following experience with a man said 
