370 



" This being the case with respect to the said Johye, your 

 petitioner requests that you will be pleased to release her from 

 confinement, as he will be bound for her appearance next court 

 day in the Adawlet; together with her son Hormuz, whom Fram- 

 jee has also accused of being an accomplice in this conjuring 

 business. 



" And your petitioner will ever pray for your long life ami haj>- 

 piness. Ruttonjee Monackjke." 



Baroche, 

 Bth January, 1782. 



As the spirits in the original petition arc called devils, and I 

 did not choose to alter any part of this singular production, except 

 to correct the orthography of the Hindoo translator, so I have in- 

 serted that term, and copied it in all other respects from the peti- 

 tion which was presented to me as judge in the public court; but 

 I believe the original word means those genii, or spirits, who form 

 a class of middle beings in the creed of most Indians, whether 

 Hindoos, Mahomedans, or Parsees. Every Persian and Arabian 

 tale is embellished with their adventures. The Mahomedans 

 firmly believe in their agency; and the Hindoos arc taught that 

 two of these genii attend upon every mortal, from the moment of 

 his existence until his death ; that to the one is committed the 

 record of his good actions; to the other the report of his trans- 

 gressions, at the tribunal appointed for judgment. 



On these subjects it is difficult even for a person of more ex- 

 perience than myself to expatiate; the acute Dr. Fryer, however, 

 affords some assistance. After describing the sacrifice of a dun<*- 



