Page:On the Coromandel Coast.djvu/276

264 mouth of the girl. The crowd that had gathered to witness the casting out of the devil was stricken with horror at the revelations which were poured into their ears. This woman, who held her head so high, and pretended to be so superior to her neighbours, had led a life of infamy in the past, the demon declared, and it began to give some of the details of her evil-doing. When she heard the story of her life proclaimed in this public manner the shock was so great that she fell down in a fit of paralysis before the possessed wife, and she was carried to her house, where she died two months later. It was found that everything that had been revealed was true.

The young woman was eventually cured by a Mohammedan hakim, who wove spells and wrote them on thin slips of paper. The slips were soaked in water, and were swallowed by the patient.

When people are possessed they are frequently gifted with the power of prophecy, and this power is made use of by others for their own purpose, so my informant said. There are professional casters-out of devils, who can make the demons speak through the lips of the afflicted, and with the assistance of these professionals the devils may be consulted. The belief in harsh treatment as a cure is universal. He assured me that the patient was incapable of feeling pain when possessed. He further drew attention to the fact that there were two kinds of spirits, the demon or malignant sprite that lives in trees and rocks and takes possession of the human body; and the ghost or spirit of a departed human being who has met with a violent death. The ghost is apparently almost identical with the European ghost. He related a tale that was told to his father by Bishop Dealtry's butler. The butler said:

'We were travelling up-country, and we came to a dak bungalow one evening, where we intended to sleep the