TIMBUCTOO. 33 another state of existence, and have saints and men whom they revere as hoiy. Some of them are sorcerers, and some ideots, as in Barbary and Turkey ; and though physicians are numerous, they expect more effectual aid in sickness from the prayers of the saints, especially in the rheumatism. Music is employed to excite ecstasy in the saint, who, when in a state of inspiration, tells (on the authority of some departed saint, generally of Seedy Muhamed Seef,) wiat animal must be sacrificed for the recovery of the patient : a white cock, a red cock, a hen, an ostrich, an antelope, or a goat. The animal is then killed in the presence of the sick, and dressed ; the blood, feathers, and bones are presei-ved in a shell and carried to some retired spot, where they are covered and marked as a sacrifice. No salt or seasoning is used in the meat, but incense is used previous to its preparation. The sick man eats as much as he can of the meat, and all present partake ; the rice, or what else is dressed with it, must be the produce of charitable contributions from others, not of the house or family ; and every contributor prays for the patient.

DISEASES.

The winds of the desert produce complaints in the stomach, cured by medicine. They have professed surgeons and physicians. The bite of a snake is cured by sucking the wound. They have D