Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1862 edition. Excerpt: ...with an admixture of water, were the choice delicacies he selected for his supper. This strange fare, which the most niggardly hospitality could not refuse, several persons hastened to prepare; and when all was ready, and the earthen dish had been hidden in the centre of a leafy shrub, the conjurer said to the Bouda, "As thy father did, so do thou." These words had scarcely escaped the hps of the exorcist, when the possessed person leaped up, and, crawling on all fours, sought the dainty repast which she lapped with a sickening avidity and greediness. She now laid hold of a stone, which three strong men could scarcely lift, and, raising it aloft in the air, whirled it madly round her head for two seconds, and then fell senseless on the ground. In half-an-hour she recovered, but was quite unconscious of what had transpired. Three other women had similar attacks that same evening, and that, too, without any premonitory symptoms. I tried to deceive one, and, instead of the disgusting concoction, put a wooden dish with bread and water in her way; but on smelling it she shrunk from its contents, and rapidly crept on till the strong effluvia brought her to the spot where the loathsome viands were concealed. Some conjurers are so expert in their art, that even at a distance they can control those under the influence of the nameless. A case of this kind, which occurred at Magdala, was narrated to me by an eye-witness. In this instance, the SOLUTION OF THE MYSTERY. 159 possessed was a young girl of attractive appearance. Her friends and companions, who at once suspected the Bouda symptoms, despatched a messenger to the exorcist; but, as he was then in a lazy mood, he commissioned a menial to conduct her to his own abode. The raving and...
