The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-09-02

resistibly strong, who comes out oniy
in the dark to carry one off for murder.
He is invulnerabIe to wounds and i'm
mortal. He lives altogether in the
southern islands, and principally loves
to hide in wait in the darkest corners
of the cocoanut grove al night.
There is only one thing that can real
Nv battle a wok-wof, and that is water
That is one reason why the Moros love
to build their houses on tiny piers
above the sea. No one cares TO have
wok-woks proving about
| Now and then you can see line OF
torches. made of bundles of grass tied,
| on pole, bobbing along through the
darkness. The palms cast ghostly
shadows, dancing across the trial
ahead. A little moon shows the shapes
of unnamed horrors against the sky.
Often the torches halt and huddle,
wavering in a bunch. You know what
that means. A belated party of Moros
is hurrying homeward, and far off,
weird mysterious in the underbrush
some rustling sends shivers of fear
through the loneliness. II llah knows it
is a wild pig, but how can mortal tell
that it is not the warning of wok-
wok crawling nearer and nearer
through the gloom on his prey?
In Siassi they have flags flying to
brighten away wok-woks. Siassi is
very wok-woky spot indeed. At most
places they only guess tina, there are
wok-woks, but at Siassi they know it.
For this is the certain proof: A wise
man decided ages ago that if there
must be devils it is bevter to have
them good humored than not. SO he
ordered that each week bowls of food
be set out at a point in the forest. A
hungry wok-wok is naturally worse
tempered than one who has eaten.
Each seventh day over since has the
offering been put out. Hence the
proof. For in the morning when the
slaves go tiptoeing forth to bring in the
empty bowls they find that all the fish
and rice are gone. Never once have the
wok-woks failed to devour it overnight.
It is not alone in the matter of wok-
woks that our small brown brothers
involve Providence in their daily af-
fairs. Among them, as in Eur pc in
the Middle Ages and in our own New
England, the Judgment of God is invok
ed in matter.: CT justice There are
certain crimes in which innocence or
guilt is determined by throwing a coin
in pot of boiling water, and making
the prisoner pick it out with his naked
hand. If he is guilty, he is scalded,
but if he is innocent he escapes I'M
harmed.
In murder cases where two men are
suspected their names are written on
two similar pieces of parchment. These
pieces are then folded up and placed
in water-tight boxes. Two divers of
equal skill are selected, and each takes
one of the boxes. They dive together
at a given signal, remaining under
water as long as possible. The box
carried by the first man to come to the
surface contains the name of the guilty
man.
Among the Moros, as among the In
dams, certain sicknesses are believed to
be evil spirits. In the last cholera
epidemic at Siassi a little boy was very
i'll. His parents and their friends were
wailing and sobbing about the house
when an old william of a Haiti hove in
sight, and offered to work en- the evil
one who was tormenting the child. The
parents were overjoyed, and after wild
movements and Whispered lamentations
the Haiti went into a trance.
He sat motionless for few minutes.
Then he spoke, drean1lly, his eyes fixed
on far off mysteries. The spirit, he said.
was in him. It was pretty tough old
spirit, but he thought that if it were
put in a good humor something might
be done with it. 1t wanted chow now
1t was no use fooling with spirit that
had not dined for nine months.
So the parents brought eggs and fish
and rice and tapioca cakes, and the
Haiti kindly ate them for the spirits
sake. Then he went into another
trance. The spirit was no longer hun
CRY, bat was still cross. It wanted
presents, it said. There were several
pearls that the father owned that would
please it immensely, and pony and
a fine gold handled kriss. The spirit
said that the Hajji could take those
presents and guard them for it,
The father hesitated. but his little son
was groaming in agony. He gave up
to the spirit his pearls and his pony
and his kriss. The spirit was pretty
cheerful after that. It desired sleep,
though. After it woke I'D it would
talk. So it went off with the Hajji and
slept under banana tree until sup
per time. Then it had another meal
The child was sflll alive. The Hail
had a personally conducted spasm, and
the spirit left him painting on the
ground in the twilight.
He said that the spirit was a good
deal appeased. He had never seen such
a change in a spirit in all his expert
ence. But still it had not made up its
mind definitely. 1t might spare the
boy-and it might not. The Hajji could
not say certainly. But ANYHOW, he would
advise certain treatment. This he did,
and then departed, followed by the
prayers and gratitude of the parents
and mounted on the spirits pony.
Yet. somehow, as a matter of fact,
the boy lived.
Among these people there are many
prophets. In Pata Island an old chap,
Tungalon by name, had some months
back a vast following. He made a
number of impressive statements s11nh