310 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [No. 3, 
for tlie next day, we certainly should go and see whatever was to he 
seen. 
“ Next morning, after a pleasant ride of about four miles down the 
valley of the Punnee, we approached the village of Nat-Mee. ‘ Well, 
where is the fire ?’ we ask. ‘ Oh it is not here ; it is over there the 
other side of the stream’ is the reply. Belief in the fire goes down 
instantly to a degree considerably below zero. However, we cross the 
stream to a small suburb of Nat-Mee called Thyatas ; we pass this ; 
we meet some villagers, and our guide asks them — ‘ Is it still burn- 
ing ?’ ‘ Don’t know’ is the reply. Belief in fire goes down into the 
bulb of our mental thermometers. However, we insist on going to 
the spot, and are led off the road across some cultivation, till we come 
to a belt of jungle with a foot-path through it. Here we have to dis- 
mount, and walking on for about a hundred yards, we come to a little 
hillock up which we are led. On the top of this hillock is a large 
heap of stones, and going round to the opposite side of it from that 
we had approached by, we see the Spirit-Fire. Yes, there it is. Out 
of the stones in two or three places comes a bright flame, flickering 
and burning ; at a little distance from the heap of stones, where there 
are some cracks in the ground, more flame. In this instance, the 
marvel has proved true. There is nothing in the appearance of the 
hillock itself, or the heap of stones, differing from any other hillock 
or any other heap of stones in this part of the country ; no appear- 
ance of boiling lava, violent upheavals, or any of those convulsions 
with which one is accustomed to associate the idea of subterranean 
fire. The ground and the stones were not even hot, except in the 
places were the fire was actually burning ; the soil was gravelly, and 
at one place where the flame was issuing from a crack, I stirred up 
the gravel with a stick. The effect produced I can only compare to 
that produced by stirring up a plum-pudding in which brandy is burn- 
ing. The flame spread itself and flickered about the gravel just as 
the burning brandy does about the pudding ; but just as in that case 
the pudding is not burnt, so in this the gravel did not become ex- 
tremely hot, and could be handled, though some of the stones in places 
when the fire came steadily were all but red-hot. Query — What 
was the substitute for the brandy in this case ? There was at times 
a slight simmering noise, but not so loud as that of a boiling kettle. 
We remained on the spot for some time and then proceeded to our 
