Page:The Folk-Lore Journal Volume 1 1883.djvu/333

 Rh when this valley, and not only this valley but all the neighbouring territory as far west as Kabul, was part of the empire of Hindostan, and when the inhabitants were not Mohammadans but followers of Buddha, whose viharas and temples covered the land. This fact should perhaps be borne in mind in treating of the singular customs and superstitions, and the abundance of traditional folk-lore which richly survive, in spite of philosophical Mohammadanism, throughout this most interesting district.

It has been a source of considerable pleasure to me, during the six years of my residence in the Peshawur Valley, to note down from time to time some of the most curious superstitions to which the people are still attached, and I now propose to record my impressions in a series of short papers.

I.—.

One of the greatest wants, and, therefore, one of the most valued blessings of this part of the world, is rain. Droughts are of frequent occurrence, especially in the dry hot months of summer, when the rays of the sun are so intensely severe that both men and cattle frequently perish from the effects of the heat alone. In vain sighs the farmer for the coveted rain, which is to save his barley or his wheat, or to nourish his growing crops of Indian corn. And it is not surprising to find that his simple mind, penetrated as it is with a belief sturdy and strong in the existence of malign supernatural influences for ever thwarting and marring the beneficent arrangements of Providence, should address its appeals to the God of all Good, or to spirits of evil, by means of many a quaint mysterious ceremony, in order to compass relief from present prevailing distress. Various are the strange traditional expedients resorted to by the poor country hinds to coax down the blessing of refreshing showers, however scanty, on their parched-up fields. Sometimes the assembled women of the village, arming themselves with their churning-sticks, set out stealthily to surprise and capture the cattle-boy of some neighbouring community. If they succeed in their endeavour, they conduct the lad to their homes, and there load him with small presents of grain, contributed by every household. Then they bring forth a gay lunghi or