1838.] On the Customs and Superstitions of the people. 97 



upon the palm of the hand; some green leaves are tied together with 

 raw silk, and placed upon the heated iron : if the accused be innocent, 

 the leaves remain unburnt and the hand uninjured; (as has been fre- 

 quently observed) but if guilty, both the leaves and hand are burnt. For 

 example, a certain woman stole a pair of siwdrehs, (kind of ornament) 

 from another woman, and denied the theft, whereupon, they agreed to 

 decide the question by means of the heated spade. The accused 

 placed the articles stolen in a basket, covering over and concealing them 

 with cotton, and previously to undergoing the ordeal, gave the same 

 to the owner of the siwdrehs: then, fearlessly lifting the spade, she 

 returned it to the ground unhurt, although the heat was so great, that 

 it scorched all the surrounding earth. The accuser, enraged at seeing 

 the woman, whom she knew to be guilty, escape without injury, threw 

 down the basket, when the ornaments rolled out, and the truth became 

 apparent. 



3rd. They sink the foot of a post in deep water : the accused is direct- 

 ed to dive to the bottom of the post; at the moment that he does so, 

 an arrow is thrown, and a person dispatched to bring it ; the post is 

 then moved, if the accused be guilty, he rises to the surface, but if 

 innocent, he is enabled to stay in the water. 



Magic and Divination. 



These people are great magicians ; one woman will charm away the 

 butter from the curds of another, and add the quantity to her own. For 

 instance*, I was once the guest of a woman in a village who had pre- 

 pared her curds for butter, when under pretence of asking for fire, she 

 proceeded to the house of a neighbour, whose curds she saw were also 

 ready; my hostess returned, and in a short time by dint of powerful 

 charms, produced as much butter from the produce of one cow, (which 

 was all she possessed) as could scarcely have been produced by ten 

 cows. Their best method of divination is by means of the blade-bone 

 of a goat. The following once occurred. 



A party of hillmen being pursued by enemies, left their stronghold, 

 and fled to the plains ; they had amongst their number, a Mdneh Sang, 

 (so this description of diviners are called). On the road they found the 

 blade-bone of a goat, and requested the diviner to tell them how far 

 their pursuers were behind. He looked at the bone and reported that 

 they were close upon them. He was then directed to point out the best 

 means of escape; he ordered them to sprinkle the contents of their 



* This is quoted from the author of the Tohfat, who speaks in the first 

 person. 



