'You see, Sir,' said my friend to the accusing person, 'your own
weak fears have imposed upon your mind. This woman cannot have done you any
injury; let her depart quietly to her home without farther annoyance.'

'No!' replied the accuser, 'she must satisfy me she is not a witch, or
worse than that, by allowing me to pluck a few hairs from her head.'--'
What benefit do you propose to yourself by this measure?'--'Why I shall
relieve myself from her power over me, by possessing hairs plucked from
her head, on which my friends will exercise certain prayers, and thus the
craft she has used to bewitch me will be dissolved, and I shall be
restored to myself again.'[4]

Willing as my friend was to get the poor woman released from the hands of
the accusing party, and finding reason or argument of no avail in turning
them from their purpose to detain her, the terms were acceded to on the
one part, provided the woman herself was willing to comply, to which, when
she was asked, she replied, 'I am not the wretched creature my accuser
imagines, and therefore can have no objection, on condition that I may be
allowed afterwards to return to my home in peace.'

The poor old head was now in danger of being plucked of its white hairs by
the surrounding crowd, whose extravagant desire to possess the, to them,
invaluable specific against witchcraft--for they still believed she was
actually a witch--led them to overlook humanity and feeling; but the
peacemaker's voice was again heard, commanding the crowd to desist, and
they should all be gratified, when the scissors he had sent a servant to
fetch, might enable them to possess the prize without inflicting pain on
the poor persecuted woman.

Whilst this was in agitation, and before the scissors were used, several
well-armed soldiers, attracted by the appearance of a riot, had made their
way to the scene of contention, who recognizing the old woman as the
mother and wife of their three grass-cutters, immediately took the poor
old soul under their protection, and conveyed her safely from her
tormentors. My friend was very well satisfied to resign his charge to
their guardianship, and not a little pleased that he had been instrumental
in preserving a fellow-creature from the lawless hands of the foolishly
superstitious of his countrymen.

It is lamentable to witness how powerful an ascendancy superstition sways
over the minds of Asiatics generally. The very wisest, most learned, most
religi