THE RELIGION AND CUSTOMS OP THE URAONS. 179 



time making a new ligature, till finally he makes it pass from the toe into the ground. 

 But this is not an easy task, and the nagmotia has sometimes to work the whole night. 

 Even in that case his repertoire of incantation is never exhausted. Is it the effect of the 

 medicines alone or the effect of the medicines and mesmerism combined ? The fact is 

 that they often succeed in saving the man's life. When they do not succeed they never 

 confess the powerlessness of their art, but say it is beyond their power as the bite has 

 been caused by a bhut ! 



It would be tedious to relate how they proceed in all the sicknesses that are within 

 their sphere. Four of their beliefs, however, are rather interesting. 



When a man has sore eyes, the belief is that it is due to ashes and smoke in their 

 eyes. The story runs thus : — 



Mahadeo and Parbati were one day burning the jungle to prepare a spot for cultiva- 

 tion. A strong wind arose and drove some smoke and ashes into Mahadeo' s eyes. Taking 

 them out he cursed them and sent them into the world. They are still flying about and 

 are the direct cause of all sore eyes. The nagmotia comes in the evening, takes the man 

 alone outside and tells him to look at a star. Whilst the man is looking at the stars, he 

 takes some ashes, which he has brought hidden in his belt, between his fingers and 

 passes them before the eyes of the man, all the time singing mantras. When this is over 

 he tells the man to watch and then blows away the ashes from his fingers. He does this 

 three times with three different mantras and the man thinks that he is cured. For the 

 bite of a dog, a jackal or a boar, they believe that the pain is caused by some hair of the 

 animal that sticks in the wound. In this case the nagmotia calls two uumarried boys or 

 girls, who are given some millet flour and water, and, whilst the nagmotia proceeds 

 with the jharna, they each roll the flour mixed with water into a ball. When the 

 jharna is over the nagmotia takes the two balls between his fingers, opens them, and 

 to the great astonishment and joy of the sick man, discovers to him what was the cause 

 of his sufferings. This is a trick ; and the hair is only something like the filaments we 

 find when, in the rainy season, we break slowly mildewed damp bread. 



The method of performing jharna for the mumps and toothache is much the same ; 

 it is also a trick. The nagmotia hides a small worm in ashes wrapped in a leaf of 

 sakhua. Whilst he sings his ma?itras, he catches the head of the suffering man between 

 his hands, keeping the leaf of sakhua with the worm applied to one of the ears, whilst he 

 pours oil in the other. When he has finished his mantras, he opens the leaf of sakhua 

 and shows the worm that was causing the man such excruciating pains. 



These, however, are the only cases in which they consciously deceive the people. 

 They always apply medicine first, and their tricks are performed solely to give the sick 

 man confidence. Then there is their curious belief about palsy {langhan). The word 

 langhan means to cross, to pass from one place to another ; therefore langhan is the sick- 

 ness the nature of which is, when dislodged from one body, to pass into another. This 

 is again a good illustration of their way of thinking, as the whole practice rests entirely 

 on a jeu de mot. There are only certain months in which the langhan can be cured; 

 and it must be always at the new moon. When the nagmotia is called he collects 

 first the things that langhan likes best : a collar of beads, a piece of bamboo, a broken 



