Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 26, 1915.djvu/240

 230 Some Algerian Superstitions.

the glance, and I was told by the scribe mentioned above that all red things, particularly red pepper, are regarded by the Shawia as protective against the '* evil eye."

Among both the Shawia and the Ouled Ziane women and girls very commonly wear a single string of European glass beads around the neck, from which a large number of similar strings hang vertically over the chest; each of these vertical strings of beads had a red bead at its lower end, which is regarded as an " evil eye " charm, and is probably so used as a cheap substitute for coral, small pieces of which are similarly worn upon the pendant silver chains with which the Shawia embellish their earrings, necklets, and other personal ornaments. The Shawia are extremely fond of coral, but my friend the scribe told me that, although it is to some extent useful as a charm against the " evil eye," it is largely worn on account of its beauty.

The red pepper alluded to above possesses another quality in addition to its colour which renders it efficacious against the " evil eye," namely, its pungent taste.

The scribe informed me that many of the objects worn as charms were either evil-smelling or disagreeable to the taste, or were intended to suggest the presence of some " spiteful " creature in order to disgust or frighten away the jinn which, as we have seen, accompanies the admiring glance.

For instance, among the Shawia, garlic, red pepper, and copper {e.g. a copper coin) are used as charms against the "evil eye" on account, I was told, of their strong taste, and both the Shawia and Ouled Ziane hang little packets of hantit (asafoetida) upon the person in order that its smell may keep away the jinn of the "evil eye." The objects suggesting the presence of a creature harmful to this jinn observed during our last two journeys in Algeria are the following — a viper's head sewn up in leather is worn by the Ouled Ziane ; the skin of a snake which has been killed on a Thursday (the fifth day of the week is considered