104 S. 0. Mitra — Drowning and Drowned Persons. [No. 3, 



boat, I saw her tie a pice in a corner of her cloth, mentioning the 

 name of another female, as there "was no other female passenger in 

 that boat. This she did to obviate the consequences of the popular 

 belief that a boat with a single female passenger would come to 

 grief. There are also the Bengali superstitions that women who have 

 got children must not put water into a vessel containing lime, after 

 taking their meal, otherwise their children will get drowned.* Also a 

 person who dreams that he is drowned in mire, ought to know that 

 such dream prognosticates an early death to him.* The Bengali 

 Hindus also believe that those persons who have got convolutions of 

 hair (peculiar growth of the hair in a spiral form, which is called in 

 Bengali ^reK<JT^T), are sure to get drowned. I came across a curious 

 instance of this superstition lately. In the beginning of August last, 

 a nephew of a Bengali pleader of the Chupra Bar got drowned while 

 bathing in the River Saraju which flows past that town. While on a 

 visit of condolence to the bereaved gentleman, another Bengali gentle- 

 man — also a pleader of the local bar — asked one of the uncles of the 

 drowned boy whether the deceased had got a convolution of hair on his 

 head. On being informed that he had got one, the gentleman told us 

 all, that since the deceased had such a convolution of the hair, he was 

 sure to have died by drowning. The aforesaid gentleman also informed 

 us that his second son had also got a similar convolution of hair, and 

 that he was afraid lest he should also get drowned. He further told 

 us that, in consequence of his son's possessing such a convolution, he did 

 not allow him to go to bathe either in a tank or in the liver. 



There are also certain processes which, if had recourse to, would 

 prevent a person from getting drowned. The performance of certain 

 religious ceremonies is also supposed to have the same effect. Sailors 

 believe that if a portion of the caul which covers the face of some 

 children at the time of birth, be worn as an amulet round the neck, the 

 person wearing it will not get drowned. In Bengal, it is sometimes 

 believed that if a person accidentally eats ants along with sweets or 

 other eatables, he will not get drowned. When a person is about to 

 go to a distant part of the country and will have to cross rivers, 

 the Hindus of Bengal, previous to the starting offer pujas to the 

 goddesses of the rivers Ganges, Brahmaputra, Paclma, Nerbudda, 

 &c, &c, so that no mishap may occur. In our own family at 

 Calcutta, I have observed similar pujas offered to the family idol 

 ISTaiayana (who in this case is supposed to represent those river- 

 goddesses), before any member of the family undertakes a journey 



* Fide items Xos. 150, 155 and 189 in paper "On Popular Superstitions in 

 Bengal," published in the Journal of the Anthrojp : Boc : of Bombay, Vol. I., p. 354. 



