Ginns eat and drink and propagate their species, and even form sexual
connections with men. A man whose wife is any way odd or mysterious has
married of course a ginn. Ginns are fond of inhabiting rivers, woods, the
sea, ruins, springs, drains, and caves; they come out at night more than
by day, and in certain streets no Moor will walk at night. Nor will a
Moor sleep alone in a room. Ginns, when they appear, take the forms of
men, goats, cats, dogs, almost any animal in fact, and also monsters.

Whirlwinds, and shooting stars, and dear times, and famine, and
epidemics, are all caused by ginns. It is the ginns who have eaten all
the food in the city when prices are exorbitant. If a man falls down in
the dark, it is a ginn: a sudden illness or an accident is the work of a
ginn. There are good ginns, but bad ginns are more common. The worst of
them all is _Iblis_ (the devil). Iblis tempts men to wickedness. All
iniquity is the fault of Iblis.

In order to keep the bad ginns at a distance, certain precautions may be
taken. Salt and steel are antidotes. Salt in the hand when going out at
night, salt in the pillow when sleeping, are measures which should be
used. In building a house some people put salt and wheat and an egg into
the ground, and kill a goat on the threshold. On sinking a well (the
stronghold of ginns) a goat or sheep must always be killed.

The best talisman against ginns is the repetition of certain passages in
the Kor[=a]n: when passing a dark spot, say the "Ajatu-l-kursi": as for
neglecting to say "B`ism Allah" (In the name of God) before going for a
ride, or before doing any sort or kind of action, why, that is to have a
ginn as your companion on your horse, and at your elbow, whatever you may
be doing. As every place has its "owners," its good or bad ginns, on
striking a light and going into a room Moors say, "Good-evening to you, O
ye owners of the place." And if a tent is to be pitched, first of all the
protection of good ginns must be solicited in that spot.

Supposing a ginn gets hold of a man, and he is ill, there are certain
doctors, magicians, among the Moors who can cast the ginn out. They
practice a regular "ginn-cult," and celebrate annual feasts, going
outside Tetuan to a certain spring near the Moorish cemetery, and killing
a bullock, a black goat, a black donkey, and some chickens.

The word _ginn_ originally meant "the secret," "the mysterious," "the
hidden"; and the belief in ginns is