JUMNA AND BHAGIRAT^HI RIVERS. l83 



'is formed the hollow of Cot'lia^ the chief ravine of which runs down 

 from nearly the top of Backu'7ickay2Lnd is joined by fmaller but equal- 

 ly rough, clefts from the back, which unite their waters belowj and roll 

 a rapid eind lar.ge torrent to the yw;??;7^o 



'On one of tkisfe raviness are feen fmall hills of ft^nes. refemblinfl' 

 ■places of worSiip; fuppofed to be the refidence of devatjs or Jpirits^ who 

 amufe themlelves with inveigling away human beings to their wild 

 abodes. It is fid, that beauty in either fex is the objeil of their par- 

 •tieular predilection; thatthey remorfelefsly feize on -any, whom chance 

 or imprudence may place within their power, and whofe-fpirits become 

 as theirs, when depri^^ed of their corporeal frame ; m^my inilances of 

 :fuch occurrences were given.: on one oecafion, a youag; man who had 

 wandered near their haunts, being carried in a trance to the valleyj 

 •heard the voice of his own father, who fome years before Jiad been 

 fpiiited away, and who now recognifed his fon. Paternal afFe(5lion it 

 ^appears was ftponger than the fpell he was bound by, and inftead of 

 rejoicitig ar the acquifition -of new prey, he recolle6led the forlorn ilate 

 of his family, thus deprived of their only -remaining fupport; he beg- 

 ged and obtained the pardon of .his fon, who was difmiffed wiih an in- 

 junaionof ilrr^ filence aad fecrecy.; forgetting however his vow, he 

 iras deprived of fpeech; and as a felfpuniQiment, he cut out his 

 tongue with his own hand, This man, it was faid, was ftill alive, and I 

 defired he fhould be brought to me; but he never came, and I was af- 

 terwards told, he had lately died- 



Several perfons have approached the precinds of thefe fpirits, and 

 they who have returned have generally exprefled the fame feelings ;. 

 and have uttered fome prophefy ; they aver, that they fall into a 

 iwooR, and between flccping and waking, hear a converfaLion, or rather 



