102 S. C. Mitra — Drowning and Drowned Persons. [No. 3, 



that " among the seamen of Orkney and Shetland it was deemed unlucky 

 to rescue persons from drowning since it was held as a matter of religi- 

 ous faith that the sea is entitled to certain victims, and if deprived 

 would avenge itself on those who interfere."* 



The superstition that the water-spirit, if despoiled of his victim, 

 will wreak vengeance on the person who deprives him of the sacrifice 

 due to him, is prevalent, in one form or another, among many races in 

 various parts of the world. It exists among the sea-faring population 

 of Great Britain and Ireland and especially among those of Cornwall. 

 The sea-faring community of France, the boatmen who ply their voca- 

 tion on the River Danube and the common peasant folk of Russia also 

 share in this belief. Formerly a superstitious belief was current 

 amoncrst the Bengalis that a water-spirit in the form of an old 



k a o- called s^^€t — haunts tanks and ponds, and when any person 



goes thereto, she fetters that person's feet with an invisible chain. 

 The victim is allowed to go wherever he likes, dragging the invisible 

 chain lon°- as the daylight lasts, but as the shades of evening 

 be<>in to fall, the si^ft begins to withdraw the chain, and, therewith, 

 the victim is gradually drawn into the waters of the tank and drowned. 

 This superstition, is now fast vanishing before the progress of English 

 education and enlightenment and now only lingers as a relic in the 

 threat with which Bengali infants are frightened, namely, that, should 

 thev become naughty, the ^fi^ft will catch them and take them away. 

 Another mythical being, named af^, was believed to exist in Bengal 

 formerly. It was supposed to guard hidden treasure and to reside in 

 tanks. It was also said of this being that if anybody went to take the 

 treasure in charge of the aj^, he was dragged into the water by that 

 spirit and killed by being submerged in it. This bit of folklore is 

 also disappearing. The Siamese believe in a water-spirit called Pntik, 

 who, they say, seizes those who go to bathe in the water and drags 

 them down. The Sioux Indians entertain a similar belief in a water- 

 demon whom they call Unk-tahe and who, they believe, kills men by 

 dragging them underneath the water in a way similar to the Siamese 

 Spirit. The Kamschatkadales refuse to help a drowning man out of 

 the water, on account of some similar superstitious scruples. If such 

 a man was anyhow rescued, no one of his fellow-tribesmen would allow 

 him to enter his house or give him food, but, on the other hand, would 

 take him for one who is dead. The Chinese also display a similar sort 

 of reluctance to save a drowning man because they believe that the 

 spirit of the drowned man hovers over the water till it succeeds in 



* Tudor's Orkney and Shetland, page 1 76. 



