They allott Money to the Devil. 223 
fuggeftions of the night. It generally appears that the devil 
wants victuals or money, which are always allotted him, and 
being placed on a little plate of cocoa-nut leaves, are hung 
upon the branch of a tree near the river, fo that it feems not 
to be the opinion of thefe people, that in prowling the earth 
the devil “ walketh through dry places.” Mr. Banks once 
alked, whether they thought Satan fpent the money, or eat 
the victuals ; he was anfwered, that as to the money it was 
conlidered rather as a mulft upon an offender, than a gift to 
him who had enjoined it, and that therefore if it was de- 
voted by the dreamer, it mattered not into whofe hands it 
came, and they fuppofed that it was generally the prize of fome 
ffranger who wandered that way; but as to the meat they were 
clearly of opinion that, although the devil did not eat the grofs 
parts, yet, by bringing his mouth near it, he fucked out all 
its favour without changing its pofition, fo that afterwards it 
was as taflelefs as water. 
But they have another fuperfiitious opinion that is Hill more 
unaccountable. They believe that women, when they are de- 
livered of children, are frequently at the fame time delivered of 
a young crocodile, as a twin to the infant: they believe that 
thefe creatures are received moll carefully by the midwife, and 
immediately carried down to the river, and put into the water. 
The family in which fitch a birth is fuppofed to have happened, 
conftantly put viftuals into the river for their amphibious rela- 
tion, and efpecially the twin, who, as long as he lives, goes 
down to the river at hated feafons, to fulfil this fraternal duty, 
for the negleft of which it is the univerfal opinion that he will 
be vilited with ficknefs or death. What could atfirh produce 
a notion fo extravagant and abfurd, it is not eafy to guefi>, 
efpecially as it feems to be totally unconnected with any reli- 
gious myftery, and how a fad which never happened, fhould 
be pretended to happen every day, by thofe who cannot be 
deceived into a belief of it by appearances, nor have any ap- 
parent interelt in the fraud, is a problem ftill more difficult to 
i'olve. Nothing however can be more certain than the firm 
believe of this ltrange abfurdity among them, for we had the 
concurrent teftimony of every Indian who was queftioned about 
it, in its favour. It feems to have taken its rife in the iflands 
of Celebes and Boutou, where many of the inhabitants keep 
crocodiles in their families; but however that be, the opinion 
has fpread over all the eaftern iflands, even to Timor and Ce- 
ram, and weftward as far as Java and Sumatra, where, how- 
ever, young crocodiles are, I believe never kept. 
Thefe crocodile twins are called Sudarar, and I fhall relate 
one of the innumerable ftories that were told us, in proof of 
their exiftence, from ocular demonftration. 
A young female flave, who was born and bred up among the 
Englilh 
