The usual journeys of the demons are called yama: these are chiefly at early dawn, at mid-day, at twilight, and at midnight. The Singhalese do not travel at these hours if they can avoid it. There are certain circumstances in the condition of an individual which render it easier for a demon to attack him at one time than at another. These are when he is asleep; when he is anointed; when he is travelling in a palanquin at night; or when he eats with his mind ill at ease. Their usual haunts are large trees, by-paths, the junction of two or more roads, wells and ferries, thick groves, grave-yards, deserted houses, and places were men are quarrelling. There a demon frightens men, not by actually seizing them, but by means quite as effectual. He sometimes throws sand and stones at them; sometimes he appears as an ill-featured man among the bushes by the road-side; and sometimes he makes loud noises, as if a herd of elephants were crashing through the jungle. Frequently the traveller finds the road blocked up by large trees with all their branches and leaves quite fresh, or he hears a loud hoo shout, or he is chased by a huge black dog or monkey, or he is struck on the back by a great cold hand, which he cannot see. When he is thus frightened, he falls sick, and, in many cases, becomes a maniac or dies.

In every demon ceremony, the principal agencies are charms, invocations, and offerings. The charms begin with the words, Om chree,—the usual invocation to the Hindu Trinity,-and end with eswah, corresponding to our Amen. They are written in various languages, and their virtue lies not so much in the meaning of the terms used, as in the arrangement of letters, each having its own power. According to this, letters are called poisonous, fiery, deadly, quarrelsome, etc. Every combination is sacred to a certain demon over whom it has a fascinating influence; and to make the charm more powerful, flattery and entreaty are employed, or the terrible power of King essamony is invoked, and all in a language the most horrible to the ears of a demon worshipper. It is thought that there are in Ceylon about two hundred and forty thousand of these charms. Though one be ever so complete in the number and arrangement of its letters, it has no power till it is subjected to a certain ceremony called jiwama, or the endowing with life. This is performed as follows: a Cattadiya repairs to a grave, and prepares a table of flowers and betelleaves; with these are mixed sandal-wood powder and water. On the whole he places a thread or fine cord, called the virgin string, coloured yellow; and, on another table, called the offering altar, he places five kinds of roasted seeds, and seven different curries. He then kindles a fire on the grave with the wood of five kinds of trees, and places on the fire an earthen pot containing an egg. While the egg is being boiled, he lies full length on his back on the grave, and pronounces his charm in a low tone, throwing powdered resin into a chatty containing live cinders. Then he sits on the grave, and taking a cock into his hand, pronounces over it a charm; next he takes the thread, and pronouncing a charm, makes a knot, and every time this is repeated, a knot is made. The charmed thread is now ready for use, and it is worn on the neck, the arm, or the waist. Whilst the virtues of the charm are being completed, the demons are supposed to arrive on the spot; and unless they are duly propitiated, the performer is liable to disease or death. They do all

they can to frighten him either by felling large trees, or surrounding him with burning jungle, or causing thick darkness, or uttering hideous cries. Some have been found dead on the scene of a jiwama, and others have been maniacs for life.

Here are specimens of their incantations. The first is intended to cause madness. "Brahma! Vishnu! Sira! Adoration! Come, Hanumana! Come, Madana! Come, Baddracāli! Come, all ye gods, and all demons! Come from on high, from below, from all parts of the universe! Come, thundering from the sky! Come, making the earth tremble! Come, all male demons, and female demons! look at this man from head to toe! look at his bones, his sinews, his joints, his blood, his lungs, his heart, and his intestines! receive this man as a sacrifice! possess him! I dedicate him to you! eswah." Then follows the jiwama. The next is intended to cure headache. “Brahma! Vishnu! Siva! Adoration! When Giniri Dēwatawi," (the demon of fire,) "who resides in Giniri Covilla," (the fire temple,) "in the country of Giniri Desā,” (the land of fire,)" complained to Mangra Deviyo of the fire which was burning in her head, he sent for milk from the seven mothers of milk, and with it he extinguished the fire that was burning in her head. By his power I command that the headache which afflicts this person do leave him instantly: flee, O headache! flee this moment; eswah." Thus, by some spell or another, rendered operative by jiwama, every disease is to be cured, every wrong redressed, and every wish gratified.

Charms are divided into two classes: those intended to inflict calamity, and those intended to counteract them. Under the former come those named Hooniyan, Angam, and Pilli; under the latter come the Bandana, the Dehena, and a few others. Hooniyan is the name given to all evils inflicted by such means. There are about eighty-four thousand of them of every grade of malignity, but most of them intended to produce untimely death, sooner or later. Some of them are supposed to fill a house or a garden with demons; so that if the owner pass a night in them, he and his family fall sick, or they are frightened by hideous dreams, or by sudden apparitions, in broad daylight, of large black dogs trying to bite them, or ugly monkeys grinning at them, and then vanishing in a moment. If a person become ill, he at once ascribes it to a hooniyan practised by an enemy; if he falls when climbing a tree, he at once declares that he was thrown down by an unseen hand; if there is sudden affliction in a family, the relatives are standing in groups of two or three anxiously whispering about a hooniyan, whilst some are hurrying in search of a priest, and others are preparing for special demon ceremonies.

In most superstitious practices of this kind, a small image of wax or wood, or a figure drawn on a leaf, supposed to represent the person to be injured, is necessary. A few hairs of his head, some parings of his nails, and two or three threads from his cloth, are required, when the image is to be submitted to jiwama. It is then buried in some place over which the intended victim is likely to pass. Other precautions are also taken to insure success, such as ascertaining from the horoscope of the victim the hour or day on which some planet is threatening. The charm is now supposed capable of inflicting the heaviest calamity.

While the Hoonigans operate from a day to thirty or forty years, the

Angams take effect in a few hours. They are prepared as follows:-After the jiwama, the substance, whether it be a flower, a thread, a ring, or a cocoa-nut leaf, is buried in a spot over which the intended victim is expected to pass; or the operator may blow on it so as to make the breath fall on him; or he may touch him with it; but, in any case, he falls down insensible, and bleeds violently from the mouth and nose till he dies. Angams and wedding processions are inseparably connected. But the most destructive of all are called Pilli. In these the demon appears visibly, and the man is supposed to fall dead either from stabs or strangling. In one of them the corpse of a male infant, the mother's first born, is necessary. This is embalmed, locked up in a box, and deposited in some lonely spot. At the jiwama, two knives are placed in its hands, and a charm is pronounced. Then the demons come in great numbers, and when the ceremony is perfected, the mummy revives and stands up. Other incantations are now pronounced over it; the name of the victim, written on a leaf, is tied round the wrist; and then it flies with lightningspeed to execute vengeance.

Demoniacal possession is common in Ceylon. There are few villages in which several women may not be found under its influence, at different periods, and during considerable portions of life. The circumstances in which it manifests itself are generally their presence at a demon ceremony, roasting eggs or meat, or passing a grave not more than a day old on Wednesday or Saturday. The symptoms vary in different women. In some cases they complain of faintness, sink into a swoon, gnash the teeth, and look at the bystanders with an angry stare. Others run about, or rush into the ring of a devil ceremony, and seizing the burning torch from the Cattadiya's hand, dance wildly about. Should the ordinary means fail, there must be a pilgrimage to the temple spoken of, and there the exorcism is completed.

In the case of Roman-Catholic women, the exorcism is performed by an Annāvey, a native officer of the Church; or, if he fail, by the priest himself. The cross and various images are presented to the woman, and she is asked what they are. At this question, some tremble violently, and try to avoid looking at them; but, by threats or requests, they are induced to acknowledge them. The Lord's Prayer, and a prayer to the Virgin, are then read seven times; and afterwards, a charm is written on a piece of paper which, having been folded and sprinkled with holy water, is suspended from the neck. Some incense is then burned, and the smoke held under the patient's face. The ceremony is completed by the Annāvey thus addressing her: "Leave this woman, and go thy way; I charge thee, demon, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and in the name of the Virgin Mary and all saints, leave her this instant, or thou shalt be punished." Another Roman-Catholic charm is as follows: "May my head, neck, and throat be under the protection of the Father, the Son. and the Holy Ghost; may they be under the protection of St. Michael and his sword; may my right shoulder be under the protection of the archangel Gabriel and his sword; may my left shoulder be under the protection of the archangel Raphael and his sword; may my breast and back be under the protection of all saints; may the rest of my body be under the protection of the eleven thousand angels. In the name of the Father, the

Son, and the Holy Ghost, who sits on a throne effulgent with starry geins; in the holy name of the Divine mother, I expel all demons from the East, the West, etc.; demons from the hell beneath the earth, from the five points of the sky, and the sixteen points of the world. I bind all poisonous creatures. I bind all, so that the charms of Hooniyan, Angam, and Pilli are destroyed. I bind by the Divine power of the Cross. I bind by the power of the five Divine wounds. I bind by the authority of angels. I bind, so as to render the bond indissoluble. Amen, Jesu!"

The system thus briefly sketched is not an empty faith; its deplorable results are manifest in the factions, quarrels, and bloodshed that occur in almost every village. One family at enmity with another, inflicts, by means of it, the deepest injury by litigation, theft, assault, or converting peaceful homes into scenes of misery and distress. The following case is an illustration. Andris had a lawsuit with Siman Naide about a small piece of land, and the judgment was in Siman's favour. To be revenged, Andris prepared a hooniyan charm, and buried the image by night in Siman's garden. He was detected, however, in the act, and severely beaten. Not satisfied with this, they bound him hand and foot, and placed a bunch of plaintains beside him. The police Vidähn was called in, and Siman charged Andris with entering his garden by night, and stealing fruit. The magistrate tried the case, and the evidence being so clear, the man was sentenced to a month's imprisonment with hard labour. Before the sentence expired, Siman resolved to punish Andris further, and engaged a Cattadiya to prepare a charm against him. On leaving prison, Andris was told that Siman was seen going one night to a graveyard, in company with another man who carried a cock, and some live coals in a chatty. Andris knew what was meant, and resolved to waylay Siman the next night as he returned from toddy-drawing. He accordingly met him in a lonely place, and struck him with a hoe. Siman died in two days, and Andris was condemned to the scaffold.

Another illustration is to the same effect. A young man-a rising astrologer-fell sick; and as the illness was at once attributed to demon influence, nothing that Ballicārayas, and Cattadiyas, and charms could effect, was left untried. He died, however; and his father being told that another astrologer in the same village had practised charms against his son, was maddened with rage. His neighbour possessed a gun; and in his garden was a mango tree, the fruit of which was destroyed by monkeys. Nothing was more natural than that he should borrow the gun to drive off these intruders. Accordingly, every day when the monkeys were seen, he loaded the gun, and first levelling it against them, he turned and fired in another direction; for it is a sin to kill animals, especially monkeys. This sort of shooting continued for some weeks. One evening the astrologer was returning home along a path flanked on both sides by thick bushes. At a certain dark turning he was shot by some one, and died in a few hours. The jury tried the old carpenter, but acquitted him; as, notwithstanding the false evidence against him, nothing could be proved beyond the fact of his having borrowed a gun, and been in the habit of shooting at monkeys. The villagers, however, certainly knew the murderer.

If an educated native remonstrate with a demon priest on the absurdity VOL. XVII.-FIFTH SERIES.

D

of his system, the reply will probably be, "Well, Sir, you will pardon me when I say, and I beg pardon again and again for saying it,—that young men, corrupted by English ideas, know nothing of these matters. You think,-pray excuse me,—that all that is great and wonderful is peculiar to the English. This unnatural conduct is pursued so far that long hair and the condey are laid aside; trousers are worn instead of the saron; and hats and caps are substituted for high combs. Alas! alas! there is no remedy for all this. You speak of the power of English science, as sending news thousands of miles in a few seconds, and making carriages, loaded with seventy or one hundred bandy loads of goods, travel twenty, thirty, or forty miles an hour, simply by fire and smoke, and without bullocks or elephants. You speak of English medicine as superior to ours. But do you know that none of these sciences and arts belonged originally to the English; they all belonged to the Brahmans, and the English merely take them from our books, apply them to something practical, and thus make money." He will go on in this manner for a long time, and end by giving instances of the power of charms. "Why, only the other day, Sanchi Hami, Tamby Appoo's wife, was sick, and who cured her? the Cattadiya, to be sure and Abanchi Appoo practised spells on my uncle, and who cured him? Why, not the Vedaralle." But if an Englishman question him, the answer is very different. "Sir, I don't know much of these things myself, but my forefathers believed in them, and my neighbours believe in them, and what is right for them cannot be wrong for me. When we are sick, it is proper to try everything in our power; we worship Budha, the gods and the demons all at once, hoping that some good may result. I think, however, that our practices are not right, and I shall be glad to be instructed." His demeanour is that of a respectful inquirer, but when he goes off, he laughs at his own skill in answering so cleverly, pities the Englishman for being a Christian and an infidel, and is quite certain that when he dies, he will go to the lowest of all hells, the Lokanantārika Narakāya.

But deplorable as is the demon-worship of Ceylon, there is something worse in Budhism. With persons who admit the existence of evil spirits we have common ground; we can speak to them of the Supreme Being who delivers from all evil. But the Budhist refuses to acknowledge any God. With him human life is not a series of consequences, involving responsibility, but a series of sequences, like the independent sounds of a musical instrument. What, then, is the missionary to do? Simply to preach the Gospel. The instincts of the heart are truer and deeper than the dogmas of human wisdom; and always and everywhere the Cross is "the power of God unto salvation." It comprehends all that man requires, and all that God can bestow.

X.

THE SPURIOUS GOSPELS.

As volume sixteenth of their "Ante-Nicene Christian Library," Messrs. Clark, of Edinburgh, have published a translation of the Apocryphal writings of the period. They are forty-one in number, twenty-one of which are comprised under the title of "Gospels," while thirteen record the