MYSTERIES OF INDIAN MAGIC.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 5801, 19 January 1906, Page 2

MYSTERIES OF INDIAN MAGIC.

In his exhaustive review of ‘‘Malay Magic, 8 ' Mr W. W. Shear, oi the civil service of the tV,!a alod .Slates, gives an interesting account of the regain; of Selangore. Among them is a trumpet, which no o;;e ;u:;M natch event tile tei,filing Gillian aid tin? heir apparent, or lie v.ul be struck a.tji illness. Mr .Silent v.ure anxious to c.\-

amine these tilings, of conreo, and one day tbe Jtujah -Moduli allowed him to take the sacred trumpet into his hands, "I thought nothing more el the matter, hut, l,y what was really a very curious coincidence, within a few days I was seized with a sharp attack of malarial inllueaza, obliged mo to leave the district. The repot I of my indisposition appears to have made a profound impression, and a Malay, v. ho probably thought himself indebted to me for seme assistance, vuued to elf or sacrifice at the shnne oi a local saint for my recovery’ : and Mr Skeat had to attend a banquet at tho saint’a tomb in gratitude lor Ids merciful ’intervention. The Mila nan tribe of Sarawak have a practice of depositing a largo leaf, peculiarly folded, at the spot where an accident lias happened to conciliate the powers of evil. A man hurt biniseli in tho llajah’s garden, and sumo Milanans 'employed there hastened to perform the ceremony of propitiation. The present Kajaii,. Sir (.’barbs Brooke, tells wlint followed in his '’Ten Years in Sarawak.” Ho disliked to bco this litter on the path, and told them to remove it. Hut the Milanans raid that tho arm of anyone touching the leaf won hi swell. So tho Rajah threw it away himself—and two slays alterwani.s lie had a painful swelling in his arm, which lasted a fortnight. So General Maclntyre records in “Hindoo Koh’ how the mountaineers assured him that something disagreoble would happen to anyone who killed the rare albina goohal. Ho shot one, nevertheless, and the same day his gun burst, putting an end to the general’s spurt for many a day. In tho Journal of tho Indian Archipelago is a narrative of Mr Jonathan Iligg’s accent of Gnrnung Dauka, in Java, quoted by Mr Tylor, of anthropological renown. Tho top of that mountain is supposed to bo the tdlo of Paradise, and tho Javanese believe that if tho local llajah permit any stranger to climb it a tiger would devour him. A day or two after Mr Iligg’s feat a tiger killed two of the Rajah’s children. Readers of tho late Captain (Velby’s “ Twix I SirdaJi and Mcuuluk” only need a hint to recall Ida singular description of a race in Africa possessed by devils, according to their neighbour’s report. They think Unit these people transfer a sufficient number of their superfions demons to the body of any stranger they come across, looking out for an opportunity when be is so incautious as to eat in their presence.. Captain W'elby laughed at the tale. Hut on the day l , of arrival in tho Walamo country one of ids Somalis ran mad, assumed “tho look of a wild man, talked utter nonsense and raved, calling on the (Valamos, nnd shaking from head to foot.” Presently hn rushed about the camp with a knife, seeking victims. To calm the fears of his people, Captain AVelby breakfasted in the open air, among Walamos, who saw him cat. Next morning ho woke very ill, “as if sea sick,” nnd suffered violent internal pains all day. As a prudent man, Oiptuin IVelby resumed his travels with speed not waiting to see the explanation of those remarkable incidents.

Many Indian villages arc haunted by a ghost, often that of some ancient landowner who makes himself disagreeable to new tenants. So leases arc granted in the old gentleman’s name, and then ho is content usually; hut sometimes neither this or any other device will propitiate him. In such cases the spot is deserted. A piece of fine land in the valley of the 'serin.dda had fallen into this state. The ghost claiming it was especially active and malignant: and the native revenue officers flatly refused to survey it. At length the magistrate of the district. Mr Lindsay, resolved to undertake tho business himself, and got a brand new cord for the purpose. Tno people warned him, but ho set to work—and hie new cord snapped in the first field! On the very same day he took cholera and died. Colonel Slceman, whoso “Rambles and Recollections" delighted our grandfathers—and still delight the few who know them—visited the scene a few years

later. Natives who wore present told him that they saw tho rope fly in ten thousand pieces, and heard demonaic burets of laughter. But of Indian coincidences like this there is no end. Legends of the fulfilment of a curse upon reckless Englishmen abound even in print; unfortunately they seldom have the guarantee of a responsible person, which I exact. But tho name of Colonel Warburton suffices. In “Thirteen Years of the Ivhyber” ho relates how Captain Anderson, Lieutenant Wiliamson and Dr. Palmer built a house in a tope of trees at Naushodra, on tho Cabul River, in 1809. A rJrat (tomb of a Moslem saint) stood on tho land: tho guardian of it cursed them for the sacrilege. Captain Anderson was killed at polo, Lieutenant Williamson broke his nook while hawking. Dr Palmer was drowned in the Ganges. Just afterwards a flood swept away their house.