the trooper, and commanded to cure him. She flatly denied that she
had herself conjured him; but admitted that her household gods might,
unknown to her, have punished him for his wickedness. This, however,
would not do. She was commanded to cure the man, and she set about
collecting materials for the "pûjâ" (worship); and before she could
get quite through the ceremonies, all his pains had left him. Had we
not been resolute with her, the man must have died before evening, so
violent were his torments.'

'Did not a similar case occur to Mr. Fraser at Jubbulpore?'

'A "chaprâsî"[2] of his, while he had charge of the Jubbulpore
district, was sent out to Mandlâ[3] with a message of some kind or
other. He took a cock from an old Gond woman without paying for it,
and, being hungry after a long journey, ate the whole of it in a
curry. He heard the woman mutter something, but being a raw,
unsuspecting young man, he thought nothing of it, ate his cock, and
went to sleep. He had not been asleep three hours before he was
seized with internal pains, and the old cock was actually heard
crowing in his belly. He made the best of his way back to Jubbulpore,
several stages, and all the most skilful men were employed to charm
away the effect of the old woman's spell, but in vain. He died, and
the cock never ceased crowing at intervals up to the hour of his
death.'

'And was Mr. Fraser convinced?'

'I never heard, but suppose he must have been.'

'Who ate the livers of the victims? The witches themselves, or the