§20 - ^ .- ' " STATISTICAL SKETCH 



to be confined to a few notes continually repeated and prolonged: when heard 

 ; in the glens and dells, the melody of this instrument is wild and pleasing. 



) An attempt to collect the numerous superstitious beliefs current in these 



hills, would be an endless task, the result of which would by no means repay 

 the labor bestowed, as these beliefs are for the most part rude and gross, dis- 

 playing neither imagination nor refinement in their texture. The moun- 

 ' taineers believe implicitly in the existence of the various tribes of ghosts, 



evil spirits, demons, goblins, fanes, elves, Sec, and have, moreover, the fullest 

 evidence in the powers of sorcery and witchcraft : a few of the most current 

 superstitions, under these several heads, may be stated. 



The ghost tribe is divided into numerous varieties : the first and most 



formidable is the Bhilt, or ghost : individuals who may have died a violent 



death, whether by murder, execution, drowning, and to whose remains 



-. due funeral honors may not have been paid. The Bhui continues to haunt 



{ his descendants for generations in an invisible shape, and requires to be occa- 



: sionally appeased by sacrifices and offerings. Masdn, or Imps, axe the ghosts 



of young children, the bodies of whom are buried, and not burnt, and who 



- r prowl about the villages in the shape of bears and other wild animals. 



Tola, or Will of the Wisps, are the ghosts of bachelors, that is of males, 

 who may die at mature age unmarried. The society of the Tolas is supposed 

 ' i' ' to be contemned by all other classes of ghosts, and they are, accordingly, 

 seen only in wild and solitary places. 



\ ■ - Airl, the ghost of a person killed in hunting, is believed to haunt the 



forest in which the accident may have occurred, and is heard, from time to 

 ;> time, hallooing to its dogs. To hear the voice of the Airi, portends some 



calamity to the hearer. 



