THE JIGGERKHAR.

251

unearthly-looking object in the guise of woman, she
poured upon me a volley of curses so bitter and
malignant that I shrank from her with disgust. I
found afterwards that she was a reputed witch. There
are several kinds of witches, as well as wizards,
in this country. The most formidable are the Jig-
gerkhars or liver-eaters.

" One of this class can steal away the liver of
another by looks and incantations. Other accounts
say that by looking at a person he deprives him of
his senses, and then steals from him something re-
sembling the seed of a pomegranate, which he hides
in the calf of his leg. The jiggerkhar throws on the
fire the grain, which thereupon spreads to the size of
a dish, and he distributes it among his fellows to be
eaten; which ceremony concludes the life of the fas-
cinated person. A jiggerkhar is able to communicate
his art to another, which he does by teaching him the
incantations, and making him eat a bit of the liver-
cake. If any one cut open the calf of the magician's
leg, extract the grain, and give it to the afflicted per-
son to eat, he immediately recovers : those jiggerkhars
are mostly women. It is said, moreover, that they can
bring intelligence from a great distance in a short space
of time, and if they are thrown into a river, with a
stone tied to them, they nevertheless will not sink.
In order to deprive any one of this wicked power,
they brand his temples and every joint in his body,
cram his eyes with salt, suspend him for forty days
in a subterraneous cavern, and repeat over him cer-
tain incantations. In this state he is called Detchereh.
Although, after having undergone this discipline, he