DISCOVERIES OF THE PORTUGUESE. 
die a natural death ; on finding, therefore, that 
his end approaches, he transfers his power to a fa- 
vourite disciple, and causes himself to be publicly 
put to death. It is impossible to express the 
anxiety of the inhabitants lest the office should be 
vacant, as in that case it appears to them, that the 
earth must immediately become barren, and the 
human race perish. 
One of the forms in which the magicians exer- 
cised their power, was by imposing prohibitions 
which were not to be violated under the most dread- 
ful penalties. On this head, a striking instance is 
given of the power of imagination. A young man 
had been thus prohibited from eating the flesh of 
a wild hen ; which, however, it so happened, that 
he one day did eat, supposing it that of a tame 
one. Four years after, he came to the same 
house, when a wild hen was again produced, which 
he declined on account of the prohibition. His 
host laughed, and assured him that he had former- 
ly eaten the very same food ; an information which 
acted so powerfully on the mind of the young ne- 
gro, that he died in twenty-four hours. 
Another frequent form of superstition, was that 
of the women binding their children with cords, 
which the magicians supplied as a preservation 
against all mischief ; and to which, by way of 
double security, they added Agnus Deis, medals, 
and Catholic relics. Whenever any child was 
