aroundworldortra00peebiala-1

THE BRAHMO-SOMAJ AND PAESEES. 251
Opening Capt. Forsyth's volume on " Central India,"
I find important passages on p. 362 and others. Here is
the substance —
:
"Theirs — the Bygds — it is to hold converse with the world of
spirits, who are everywhere present to the aborigines; and theirs it is
also to cast omens, call for rain, and charm away disease. The Byga —
medicine-man — fully looks his character. He is tall, thin, and cadaverous,
abstraction and mystery residing in his hollow eyes. A great necklace,
carved from forest-kernels, marks his holy calling. Ghosts are
supposed to be ever present, inciting to either good or evil. Many profess
to see them. . . . These Byga medicine-men further possess the
gift of throwing themselves into a trance, during which the afflatus of
the Deity is supposed to be vouchsafed to them, communicating the
secrets of the future. I am thoroughly convinced [says the captain], by
evidence from other quarters, that this trance is not mere acting."
Mr. Tscherepanoff, a Russian scientific man, published
in 1854 at St. Petersburg the result of his investigations
with the lamas — Buddhist priests—in Thibet. He says,
" The lamas, when applied to for the discovery of stolen or
hidden things, take a little table, put one hand on it, and
after nearly half an hour the table is lifted up hj an invisible
power, and is carried to the place where the thing in
question is to be found, whether in or out of doors, where it
drops, generally indicating exactly the spot where the missing
article is to be found."
The missionary M. Hue says, —
" When a living Buddha is ' gone,' 1. e., deceased, it is not a subject
of mourning in the lamasery, for all know he will soon come back."
THE CALCUTTA SPIRITIIALISTS.
Readers of the " Banner of Light " remember to have
heard me speak of receiving India letters from Peary Chand
Mittra, a commission-merchant, writer, and Spiritualist. It
can well be imagined that it gave me much pleasure to clasp
the hand of this Hindoo thinker, author, and Spiritualist ; and
the more so when I found his soul deeply absorbed in spirituality
as against the vices of this sensuous life. The Brah-