Amongst the many incidents witnessed during a recent visit
to the tropical island of Fiji, probably none exceeded
in wonder and interest that of which I propose to give
some account this evening, and to which may be applied
the designation of 'fire ceremony.' It is called by the
natives '_vilavilairevo_.' In this remarkable ceremony a
number of almost nude Fijians walk quickly and unharmed
across and among white-hot stones, which form the pavement
of a huge native oven--termed '_lovo_'--in which shortly
afterwards are cooked the succulent sugary roots and pith
of the _Cordyline terminalis_, one of the cabbage trees,
known to the Maoris as the '_ti_,' and to the Fijians as
the '_masawe._' This wonderful power of fire-walking
is now not only very rarely exercised, but, at least as
regards Fiji, is confined to a small clan or family--the
_Na Ivilankata_--resident on Bega (= Mbenga), an island of
the group, lying somewhat south of Suva, and twenty miles
from that capital.
A small remnant of the priestly order at Raiatea, one of
the Society Islands, is yet able to utter the preparatory
incantation, and afterwards to walk through the fire.
It exists also in other parts of the world, as in parts
of India, the Straits Settlements, West India Islands,
and elsewhere. Very interesting accounts of the ceremony
as seen at Raiatea and at Mbenga are to be found in the
second and third volumes of the 'Journal of the Polynesian
Society,' and in Basil Thomson's charming 'South Sea
Yarns.' These descriptions filled our small party of
three--my wife, Dr. Colquhoun, and myself--with the desire
to witness it for ourselves, and, if possible, to give
some explanation of what was apparently an inexplicable
mystery. Our desires were perfectly realised.
The Hon. Mr. A. M. Duncan, a member of the Legislative
Council of Fiji, and agent at Suva of the Union Steamship
Company, to whom I carried a letter of introduction from
Mr. James Mills, the managing director of that Company,
was most courteous and obliging, and promised his best
efforts in the matter. His energy and ready response
succeeded, with the result that a large party from Suva
enjoyed such a day as each one must have marked with a red
letter.
It was necessary to give the natives three days in which
to make their preparations--constructing the oven and
paving it with stones, which then required heating for
thirty-six or forty-eight hours at least with fierce fires
fed with logs and branches. They had also to gather their
stores of food to form the foundation of the huge feast
whose preparation was to succeed the mystic ceremony.
During these three days we lost no opportunity of
collecting from former witnesses of the ceremony whatever
information or explanation they could afford, but with
no very satisfactory result: the facts were undisputed,
but the explanations quite insufficient. Some thought
that the chief actors rubbed their bodies with a secret
preparation which rendered them fireproof; others that
lifelong friction on the hard hot rocks, coral-reefs, and
sands had so thickened and indurated the foot-sole that it
could defy fire; but all agreed as to the _bona fides_ of
the exhibition. The incident recounted in the 'Polynesian
Journal' was also confirmed---where Lady Thurston threw
her handkerchief upon the shoulder of one of the actors,
and though it remained there but a few seconds before
being picked off by means of a long stick, it was greatly
scorched.[9]
The story or legend attached to this weird gift of
fire-walking was told us, with some variation, by two or
three different people, and it is mainly as follows: A
far-distant ancestor of the present inheritors of this
power was walking one day when he espied an eel, which
he caught, and was about to kill. The eel squeaked out
and said, 'Oh! Tui Na Galita (= Eng-Galita), do not kill
me; spare me. I am a god and I will make you so strong in
war that none shall withstand you.' 'Oh, but,' replied Na
Galita, 'I am already stronger in war than any one else,
and I fear no one.' 'Well, then,' said the eel. 'I will make
your canoe the fastest to sail on these seas, and none
shall come up with it.' 'But,' replied Na Galita, as it
is, none can pass my canoe.' 'Well, then,' rejoined the
eel. 'I will make you a great favourite among women, so
that all will fall in love with you.' 'Not so,' said Na
Galita, 'I have one wife, of whom I am very fond, and I
desire no other.' The poor eel then made other offers,
which were also rejected, and his chances of life were
fading fast when he made a final effort. 'Oh, Na Galita,
if you will spare me, I will so cause it that you and your
descendants shall henceforth walk through the _masawe_
oven unharmed.' 'Good,' said Na Galita, 'now I will let
you go.' This story varies somewhat from that told in the
'Polynesian Journal.'[10]
The eventful morning was blazingly hot and brilliant,
and the vivid-blue sky was without a cloud as we steamed
down towards Mbenga in the s.s. _Hauroto_. Mr. Vaughan,
an eminent inhabitant of Suva, who has charge of the
Meteorological Department there, was of our party, and
carried the thermometer. This was the most suitable for
our purpose procurable; it was in a strong japanned-tin
casing, and registered 400° Fahr. We had also three
amateur photographers.
Owing to the numerous coral-reefs and shallows, we finally
transhipped into the _Maori_, a steamer of much less
draught. Approaching the silent verdure-clad islet, with
its narrow beach of white coral sand, we saw a thin blue
haze of smoke curling above the lofty cocoanut trees at
a little distance in the interior, which sufficiently
localised the mysterious spot. We now took the ship's
boat, and soon, stepping ashore, made our way through a
narrow pathway in the dense bush until we came to an open
space cleared from the forest, in the midst of which was
the great _lovo_, or oven.
A remarkable and never-to-be-forgotten scene now presented
itself. There were hundreds of Fijians, dressed according
to the rules of nature and their own art--that is, they
were lightly garlanded here and there with their fantastic
_likulikus_ of grass, ornamented with brilliant scarlet
and yellow hibiscus flowers and streamers of the delicate
ribbonwood. These hung in airy profusion from their necks
and around their waists, showing off to advantage their
lovely brown glossy skins. In addition, many wore clean
white cotton _sulus_, or pendant loin-cloths. All were
excited, moving hither and thither in wild confusion, and
making the forest ring again with, their noisy hilarity.
Some climbed the lofty cocoa-palms, hand over hand, foot
over foot, with all the dexterity of monkeys. The top
reached, and shrouded amongst the feathery leaves, they
poured down a shower of nuts for the refreshment of their
guests.
The celerity with which they opened the nuts was something
astonishing, and afforded an example, too, as to the mode
of using stone implements. A stout strong stick, 3 ft.
long, and sharpened at both ends, was driven into the
ground, and a few smart strokes upon it soon tore from the
nut its outer thick covering. The upper part of the shell
was then broken off by means of a long sharp-edged stone
as cleanly and regularly as the lid of an egg is removed
with a knife, and then was disclosed a pint of delicious
milk--a most welcome beverage on that over-poweringly hot
day.
The great oven lay before us, pouring forth its torrents
of heat from huge embers which were still burning fiercely
on the underlying stones. These were indeed melting
moments for the spectators. The pitiless noontide sun,
and the no less pitiless oven-heat, both pent up in the
deep well-like forest clearing, reduced us to a state of
solution from which there was no escape. Despite this the
photographers took up their stations, and others of us
proceeded to make our observations. The _lovo_, or oven,
was circular, with a diameter of 25 ft. or 30 ft.; its
greatest depth was perhaps 8 ft., its general shape that
of a saucer, with sloping sides and a flattish bottom,
the latter being filled with the white-hot stones. Near
the margin of the oven, and on its windward side, the
thermometer marked 114°.
Suddenly, and as if Pandemonium had been let loose, the
air was filled with savage yells; a throng of natives
surrounded the oven, and in a most ingenious and effective
way proceeded to drag out the smouldering unburnt logs and
cast them some distance away. Large loops of incombustible
lianas attached to long poles were dexterously thrown
over the burning trunks, much after the manner of the
head-hunters of New Guinea when securing their human prey.
A twist or two round of the loop securely entangled the
logs, which were then dragged out by the united efforts
of scores of natives, who all the while were shouting
out some wild rhythmical song. This accomplished, the
stones at the bottom of the oven were disclosed, with here
and there flame flickering and forking up through the
interstices. The diameter of the area occupied by those
stones was about 10 ft., but this was speedily increased
to a spread of 15 ft. or more by a second ingenious
method. The natives thrust their long poles, which were
of the unconsumable wi-tree (_Spondias dulcis_), between
the stones at intervals of perhaps 1 ft. A long rope-like
liana--_wa_--previously placed underneath the poles, and
1 ft. or 2 ft. from their extremities, was now dragged
by scores of lusty savages, with the effect of spreading
and levelling the stones. This done, our thermometer
was suspended by a simple device over the centre of the
stones, and about 5 ft. or 6 ft. above them; but it had
to be withdrawn almost immediately, as the solder began
to melt and drop, and the instrument to be destroyed. It,
however, registered 282° Fahr., and it is certain that had
not this accident occurred, the range of 400° would have
been exceeded, and the thermometer burst.
During all these wild scenes we had seen nothing of the
main actors--of the descendants of Na Galita. Doubtless
to give more impressive effect, they had been hiding in
the forest depths until the signal should be given and
their own supreme moment arrive. And now they came on,
seven or eight in number, amidst the vociferous yells of
those around. The margin reached, they steadily descended
the oven slope in single file, and walked, as I think,
leisurely, but as others of our party think, quickly,
across and around the stones, leaving the oven at the
point of entrance. The leader, who was longest in the
oven, was a second or two under half a minute therein.
Almost immediately heaps of the soft and succulent leaves
of the hibiscus, which had been gathered for the purpose,
were thrown into the oven, which was thus immediately
filled with clouds of hissing steam. Upon the leaves and
within the steam the natives, who had returned, sat or
stood pressing them down in preparation for cooking the
various viands which were to afford them a sumptuous feast
that evening or on the morrow.
But for us the most interesting part of the drama was
over, and it only remained to review observations and
draw conclusions. Just before the great event of the
day, I gained permission to examine one or two of the
fire-walkers prior to their descent into the oven. This
was granted without the least hesitation by the principal
native magistrate of the Rewa district, N'Dabea by name,
but generally known as Jonathan. This native is of great
intelligence and influence, is a member of the Na Galita
Clan, and has himself at various times walked through
the fire. On this occasion he took no other part in the
ceremony than that of watching or superintending it. The
two men thus sent forward for examination disclosed no
peculiar feature whatever. As to dress, they were slightly
garlanded round the neck and the waist; the pulse was
unaffected, and the skin, legs, and feet were free from
any apparent application. I assured myself of this by
touch, smell, and taste, not hesitating to apply my tongue
as a corroborative. The foot-soles were comparatively soft
and flexible--by no means leathery and insensible. Thus
the two Suvan theories were disposed of. This careful
examination was repeated immediately after egress from
the oven, and with the same result. To use the language
of Scripture, 'No smell of fire had passed upon them.' No
incantations or other religious ceremonial were observed.
Though these were formerly practised, they have gradually
fallen into disuse since the introduction of Christianity.
I did not succeed in procuring the old incantation
formula; doubtless it was similar to that of the old
Raiatean ceremony, which is given in the second volume of
the 'Polynesian Society's Journal,' p. 106.
Whilst walking through the fire, Dr. Colquhoun thought the
countenances of the fire-walkers betrayed some anxiety.
I saw none of this; nor was it apparent to me at either
examination. The stones, which were basaltic, must have
been white-hot, but due to the brilliance of the day this
was not visible.
Various natives, being interrogated for an explanation,
replied, with a shrug, 'They can do this wonderful thing;
we cannot. You have seen it; we have seen it.' Whilst
thus unable to suggest any explanation or theory, I am
absolutely certain as to the truth of the facts and the
_bona fides_ of the actors. A feature is that, wherever
this power is found, it is possessed by but a limited few.
I was assured, too, that any person holding the hand of
one of the fire-walkers could himself pass through the
oven unharmed. This the natives positively assert.
My friend Mr. Walter Carew, for thirty years a Resident
Commissioner and Stipendiary Magistrate in Fiji, has
frequently conversed with Jonathan (referred to above),
who, whilst withholding no explanation, can give none. He
says, 'I can do it, but I do not know how it is done;'
and, further, that at the time he does not experience any
heat or other sensation.
Does any psychical condition explain these facts, as
suggested in Lang's 'Modern Mythology'?[11] I certainly
did not observe any appearance of trance or other mental
condition. In connection with this Mr. Carew thinks that
intense faith is the explanation, and that if this were
upset, the descendants of Na Galita would be no longer
charmed. But it is difficult to see how any mental state
can prevent the action of physical law. Hypnotism and
anæsthetics may produce insensibility to pain, but do not
interfere with the cautery.
Many of the so-called fire miracles are remarkable indeed,
but are readily explained, and by no means come within
the present category. Such, for instance, as plunging
the hand, which is protected by the interposed film of
perspiration assuming the globular state of water, into
boiling lead. Similarly, many conjuring feats. At the
beginning of this century an Italian--Lionetti--performed
remarkable experiments: rubbed a bar of red-hot iron over
his arms, legs, and hair, and held it between his teeth;
he also drank boiling oil. Dr. Sementini, of Naples,
carefully examined these experiments, and experimented
himself until he surpassed the fireproof qualities of his
suggestor. He found that frequent friction with sulphurous
acid rendered him insensible to red-hot iron; a solution
of alum did the same. A layer of powdered sugar covered
with soap made his tongue insensible to heat. In these
and similar instances, however, an explanation, though
probably not a very sufficient one, has been given, but
in that forming the subject of this paper no solution has
been offered. Lang's chapter on the 'Fire Walk' should be
consulted; his account of the Bulgarian Nistinares is as
wonderful and inexplicable as anything here recited. The
whole subject requires thorough scientific examination.
My next case occurs among a civilised race, the Japanese, and is
vouched for by Mr. Lafcadio Hearn, an American writer, whose book I
have not at hand, and by Colonel Andrew Haggard.[12] Colonel Haggard
saw the fire-walk done in Tokio, on April 9, 1899. The fire was 6 yards
long by 6 ft wide. The rite was in honour of a mountain god. Ablutions
in cold water were made by the performers, and Colonel Haggard was
told by one young lady that she had not only done the fire-walk, but
had been 'able to sit for a long time, in winter, immersed in ice-cold
water, without feeling the cold in the least.' After some waving of
wands and sprinkling of salt, people of all ages walked through, not
glowing stones in this case, but 'red-hot charcoal.' 'I examined their
feet afterwards: they were quite soft, and not a trace of fire upon
them.' Colonel Haggard says that the rite is 'a very unusual thing'
in Japan: many of the Japanese living in Tokio had never heard of it
before. Colonel Haggard was unable to get any clear answer as to why
the rite is performed. The priest talked something about a good God who
had power over the bad element of fire. It is not clear how, the rite
being so unusual, two Japanese ladies told Colonel Haggard that they
had 'frequently gone through the fiery ordeal.'
If any one is anxious to know the particulars of the rite as practised
in the isle Mauritius, he may communicate with our police officials
there, who annually superintend the performance. Coolies from southern
India do just what is done by Japanese and Fijians. Our administration,
however, does not permit women to pass through the fire.
After giving these recent examples in Mauritius, Japan, Rarotonga, and
an isle of the Fijian group, I am obliged to fall back on the evidence
already set forth in Chapter XII. of my book, 'Modern Mythology'
(1897). The Bulgarian practice I take from the 'Recueil de Folklore,
de Littérature et de Science,' edited by the Bulgarian Minister of
Public Instruction, with the aid of Drs. Schischmanof (whom I know
personally) and Mastov. In a private letter, Dr. Schischmanof hints
at _extase religieuse_, as in the self-mutilations of Dervishes and
Fakirs. _Their_ performances are extraordinary enough, but there was
no religious ecstasy in the little Japanese boy of six, whom Colonel
Haggard saw pass through the fire, none in Colonel Gudgeon, none in the
Fijians observed by Dr. Hocken. The fire-walkers in Bulgaria are called
_Nistinares_, and the faculty is regarded as _hereditary_. We find the
same opinion in Fiji, in ancient Italy, and in the Spain of the last
century. In Spain the fire-walkers were employed to help to put out
fires. The story is given in the essay on the last Earl Marischal in
my 'Companions of Pickle' (p. 24), and is derived from d'Alembert's
account of the Earl: 'There is a family or caste in Spain, who, from
father to son, have the power of going into the flames without being
burned, and who, by dint of charms permitted by the Inquisition, can
extinguish fires.' The Duchess of Medina Sidonia thought this a proof
of the verity of the Catholic faith, and, wishing to convert the Earl,
asked him to view the performance. But he insisted on lighting the fire
himself, and to that the Spaniards would not consent, the Earl being a
heretic.
To return to the Bulgarian Nistinares, they dance in the fire on May
21, the feast of SS. Helena and Constantine. Great fires of scores of
cartloads of dry wood are made. On the embers of those the Nistinares
(who turn blue in the face) dance and utter prophecies, afterwards
placing their feet in the muddy ground where libations of water have
been poured forth. The report says nothing as to the state of their
feet. The Nistinare begins to feel the effect of the fire after his
face has resumed its wonted colour and expression.
As for India. I may cite Mr. Stokes, in 'The Indian Antiquary' (ii.
190); Dr. Oppert, in his 'Original Inhabitants of India' (p. 190);
and Mr. Crookes, in 'Introduction to Popular Religion and Folklore in
Northern India' (p. 10). Mr. Stokes uses evidence from an inquest on a
boy that fell into the fire and died of his injuries, at Periyângridi.
The fire-pit was 27 ft. long by 7 ft. bread, and a span in depth.
Thirteen persons walked through. Mr. Stokes did not witness the
performance (which is forbidden by our law), but explains that the fire
'would hardly injure the tough skin of the sole of a labourer's feet.'
Yet it killed a boy!
The incredulous say that the fire-walkers smear their feet with oil
from the fat of the green frog. Dr. Oppert, admitting that 'the heat
is unbearable in the neighbourhood of the ditch,' says that the
walkers 'as a rule do not do themselves much harm.' This is vague.
Equally vague is the reference to rumours about a certain preservative
ointment.'
In Trinidad. British West Indies, Mr. Henry K. St. Clair, writing to
me, describes (September 14, 1890) the feat as performed by Indian
coolie immigrants. He personally witnessed the rite, which was
like that described to me by Mr. Stephen Ponder. In both cases the
performers were Klings. The case witnessed by Mr. Ponder took place in
the Straits Settlements, Province Wellesley. The trench was about 20
yards long by 6 ft. wide and 2 ft. deep. A pyre of wood, 4 or 5 ft.
high, was lighted at noon; by 4 p.m. it was a bed of red-hot embers.
The men, who with long rakes smoothed the ashes, could not stand the
heat 'for more than a minute at a time.' A little way from the end
of the trench was a hole full of water. Six coolies walked the whole
length, and thence into the water. 'Not one of them showed the least
sign of injury.' They had been prepared by a 'devil-doctor,' not a
Brahmin. On a later occasion Mr. Ponder heard that one of them fell
'and was terribly burnt.'
In these cases, Trinidad (and Mauritius) and the Straits Settlements,
the performers are South Indian coolies. In all cases there were
multitudes of European spectators, except in Mauritius, where, I learn,
Europeans usually take no interest in the doings of the heathen.
Turning to Tonga, we have the account of Miss Teuira Henry.[13] The
sister and sister's child of Miss Henry have walked over the red-hot
stones, as in the Rarotonga and Fijian cases. The ovens are 30 ft. in
diameter. The performance was photographed by Lieutenant Morne, of
the French Navy, and the original photograph was sent to the Editor
of the 'Polynesian Journal,' with a copy from it by Mr. Barnfield,
of Honolulu. The ceremony, preparatory to cooking the _ti_ plant, is
religious, and the archaic hymn sung is full of obsolete words. Mr.
Hastwell, of San Francisco, published a tract, which I have not seen,
on the Raiatean rite, witnessed by himself. The stones were I heated
to a red and white heat.' The natives 'walked leisurely across' five
times; 'there was not even the smell of fire on their garments' (cited
in the 'Polynesian Journal,' vol. ii. No. 3). There is corroborative
evidence from Mr. N. J. Tone, from Province Wellesley, Straits
Settlements, in the 'Polynesian Journal,' ii. 3, 193. He did not see
the rite, arriving too late, but he saw the fire-pit, and examined the
naked feet of the walkers. They were uninjured. Mr. Tone's evidence is
an extract from his diary.
As to Fiji there are various accounts. The best is that of Mr. Basil
Thomson, son of the late Archbishop of York. Mr. Thomson was an
official in Fiji, and is a well-known anthropologist. His sketch in his
'South Sea Yarns' (p. 195, _et seq._) is too long for quotation. The
rite is done yearly, before cooking the _masáwe_ (a _dracæna_) in the
oven through which the clan Na Ivilankata walk. 'The pit was filled
with a white-hot mass, shooting out little tongues of white flame.'
'The bottom of the pit was covered with an even layer of hot stones
... the tongues of flame played continually among them.' The walkers
planted 'their feet squarely and firmly on each stone.' Mr. Thomson
closely examined the feet of four or five of the natives when they
emerged. 'They were cool and showed no trace of scorching, nor were
their anklets of dried tree-fern burnt,' though 'dried tree-fern is as
combustible as tinder.' 'The instep is covered with skin no thicker
than our own, and we saw the men plant their insteps fairly on the
stone.' A large stone was hooked out of the pit before the men entered,
and one of the party dropped a pocket-handkerchief upon the stone 'when
the first man leapt into the oven and snatched what remained of it up
as the last left the stones.' Every fold that touched the stone was
charred. Mr. Thomson kindly showed me the handkerchief. He also showed
me a rather blurred photograph of the strange scene. It has been rudely
reproduced in the 'Folk Lore Journal,' September 1895.
Such is part of the modern evidence; for the ancient, see 'Æneid,'
xi. 784 _et seq._; Servius on the passage; Pliny, 'Hist. Nat.' vii.
2; Silius Italicus, v. 175. This evidence refers to the Hirpi of
Mount Soracte, a class exempted from military service by the Roman
Government, because, as Virgil makes Aruns say, 'Strong in faith we
walk through the midst of the fire, and press our footsteps in the
glowing mass.' The Hirpi, or wolves, were perhaps originally a totem
group, like the wolf totem of Tonkaway Red Indians; they had, like the
Tonkaway, a rite in which they were told to 'behave like wolves.'[14]
The goddess propitiated in their fire-walk was Feronia, a fire-goddess
(Max Müller), or a lightning goddess (Kuhn), or a corn goddess
(Mannhardt). Each of these scholars bases his opinion on etymology.
I have merely given evidence for the antiquity, wide diffusion, and
actual practice of this extraordinary rite. Neither physical nor
anthropological science has even glanced at it (except in Dr. Hocken's
case), perhaps because the facts are obviously impossible. I ought
to make an exception for Sir William Crookes, but he, doubtless, was
hallucinated, or gulled by the use of asbestos, or both. Perhaps Mr.
Podmore can apply these explanations to the spectators whom I have
cited. For my part, I remain without a theory, like all the European
observers whom I have quoted. But, in my humble opinion, all the usual
theories, whether of collective hallucination (photographic cameras
being hallucinated), of psychical causes, of chemical application, of
leathery skin on the soles of the feet, and so on, are inadequate.
There remains 'suggestion.' Any hypnotist, with his patient's
permission (in writing and witnessed), may try the experiment.
Since this paper was written I have seen an article, 'Les Dompteurs
du Feu,' on the same topic, by Dr. Th. Pascal.[15] The first part
of the essay is an extract from the 'Revue Théosophique Française.'
No date is given, but the rite described was viewed at Benares on
October 26, 1898. I am unable to understand whether Dr. Pascal is
himself the spectator and narrator of the 'Revue Théosophique,' or
whether he quotes (he uses marks of quotation) some other writer.
The phenomena were of the usual kind, and the writer, examining the
feet of two of the performers, found the skin of the soles fine and
intact. In four cases, in which the performers had entered the fire
after the procession--with the Master of the Ceremonies and two excited
persons, who split cocoanuts with swords--had gone, there were slight
cauterisations, healed two days later. The author of this passage
speaks of a Brahmin (apparently 'the Master of the Ceremonies') who
observed to Mr. Govinda Das, 'that the control of the fire was not so
complete as usual, because the images of the sanctuary had been touched
by Mahomedans and others in the crowd.'
The second case, not given with marks of quotation, occurred in the
park of Maharajah Tagore on December 7, 1898. 'A Frenchman, the son
of Dr. Javal of Paris, was present.' The narrator, '_nous_,' was also
present, and went up after the rite to venture his hand in the furnace.
He was warned that the Brahmin had left ten minutes before, and that
'the fire had recovered its activity.' The Maharajah, however, caused
the ceremony to be repeated, and some minutes after all was ready.
The narrator then traversed the fire, barefoot, at _un petit trot_,
'a little less than two paces a second.' As 100 yards can be run in
ten seconds, this trot was remarkably slow. He felt in paces one and
two a sensation of burning, in the five following paces a sensation of
intense heat. There were three small brown marks on his feet, which
formed blisters, but did not interfere with walking, and healed 'in
some days.' He now learned that the Brahmin's _premier aide_ did the
ceremony not quite successfully. He is convinced that, but for the
ceremony, he would have been seriously injured.
The third case was at Benares in February 1899. Three Hindoos collided
and fell in: neither they nor their clothes were burned.
The author clearly regards the performers of the ceremony as able
'to tame considerably the destructive energy of the fire.' This, of
course, is the theory of the savage devotees. The ceremony was only a
procession of sacred images carried in a glazed sanctuary, and words,
not known to the spectator, were uttered by the Brahmin. Holy water was
sprinkled, and a cocoanut was thrown into the oven. As has been said,
incantations are pronounced in Fiji and elsewhere.[16]
The following case is recent: it is culled from 'The Daily Mail,'
November 9, 1900.