The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1894-07-25

eyes turned toward the circle, ms nedu
dropped and once more he advanced as ii
drawn onward by some irresistible power
BY this time he was within few feet of
the bodies of these adopts. Slower and
slower still he advanced Then, passing be
tween their motionless forms, he lay down
across the body of the native that thought
dead
Again the first part of the performance
was repeated The Brahmans lay motion
less with their arms pointed toward and
their eyes concentrated upon the body of
the tiger. After some time the monotony
was broken by their commencing in low
tones that weird, mysterious chant. At
first it was softly repeated from one to
the other, swinging, as it were, from body
to body and getting louder and louder as
it swung round the circle. AT last, the
voices all joining together in one tremen
dous volume of sound, they leaped to their
feet, lashing themselves into state of
the widest frenzy. At the same moment
the smoldering braziers in some unac
countable way leaped into heat and life,
and in the lurid light of their flames the
Brahmans, looked like so many demons
dancing in the fires Of hell, The scene
was beyond the power of man to describe.
The black rocks CT the temple, carved with
figures of animals and men, seemed alive
and horrible as the flames rose and fell
within the braziers. The wild figures of
the Brahmans, the frenzy of their move
ments, the chant, weird and terrible, that
sobbed and screamed, echoed and re-echoed,
clashed and reclashed through the idols
that looked like human things, hooking
and reveling in such q scene. And within
| all, and the central point Of ALL the pivot
| on which life both animate and inanimate
swung, sat death, grim, silent wonderful
and beneath, as his throne the bodies of a
man and of an animal. Suddenly he who
seemed to be the leader sprang forward
rolled the body of the tiger over, and plung-
| ing a knife into the carcass below the
neck with one stroke ripped it in two
| Quick as a flash the intestines were torn
out and thrown, quivering with life, into
the flames. The body of the man was
forced into the body of the tiger the skin
drawn together, and louder wilder, fiercer
than before 1 could hear the chant rising
higher and higher had just time to see
the braziers tapping up the blood with
their flames when the smell of the burn
| Ing ueSn ONeFCdInS L1Ss dnO edA4h oOAsO-
less to the ground.
When I recovered I found they had care
fully looked after me. They had known
of my presence through their terrible cere-
mony, but once it had commenced they
dared not break it, and for the entire
length of my stay afterward I was per,
mitted to see what chose.
What was all this done for? They said
to endow this follower of their sect with
power over the animal creation. l only
know that on the following day, when re
leased from the body of the tiger, he
seemed possessed with a power that was
| not human Fire could not hurt him
animals could not iniure him, the dead
Hest snake in his hands became harmless
he passed through the jungle unarmed anC
unframed, and at the different fairs be
longing to other sects he gave exhibition
of this power to show Others the wonder
daily worked by his masters.
I can offer 10 explanation, but to m.
mind his was simply a case of hypnotism
His belief was SO great that he had abso