re burnt in front of the images of horses, from which
it may be concluded that the horse itself is or was worshipped as a
god. Colonel Tod states that the Bhils will eat of nothing white in
colour, as a white sheep or goat; and their grand adjuration is 'By
the white ram.' [338] Sir A. Lyall [339] says that their principal
oath is by the dog. The Bhil sepoys told Major Hendley that they
considered it of little use to go on worshipping their own gods, as
the power of these had declined since the English became supreme. They
thought the strong English gods were too much for the weak deities
of their country, hence they were desirous of embracing Brahmanism,
which would also raise them in the social scale and give them a better
chance of promotion in regiments where there were Brahman officers.

9. Witchcraft and amulets.

They wear charms and amulets to keep off evil spirits; the charms
are generally pieces of blue string with seven knots in them, which
their witch-finder or Badwa ties, reciting an incantation on each; the
knots were sometimes covered with metal to keep them undefiled and the
charms were tied on at the Holi, Dasahra or some other festival. [340]
In Bombay the Bhils still believe in witches as the agents of any
misfortunes that may befall them. If a man was sick and thought some
woman had bewitched him, the suspected woman was thrown into a stream
or swung from a tree. If the branch broke and the woman fell and
suffered serious injury, or if she could not swim across the stream
and sank, she was considered to be innocent and efforts were made
to save her. But if she escaped without injury she was held to be a
witch, and it frequently happened that the woman would admit herself
to be one either from fear of the infliction of a harder ordeal, or
to keep up the belief in her powers as a witch, which often secured
her a free supper of milk and chickens. She would then admit that
she had really bewitched the sick man and undertake to cure him on
some sacrifice being made. If he recovered, the animal named by the
witch was sacrificed and its blood given her to drink while still
warm; either from fear or in order to keep up the character she would
drink it, and would be permitted to stay on in the village. If, on the
other hand, the sick person died, the witch would often be driven into
the forest to die of hunger or to be devoured by wild animals. [341]
These practices have now disappeared in the Central