murder of a human
being." The murderer cuts off the tips of the hair of the victim
with silver scissors, also the finger nails, and extracts from the
nostril a little blood caught in a bamboo tube, and offers these to
the _thlen_. The murderer, who is called _u nongshohnoh_, literally,
"the beater," before he sets out on his unholy mission, drinks a
special kind of liquor called, _ka 'iad tang-shi-snem_. (literally,
liquor which has been kept for a year). This liquor, it is thought,
gives the murderer courage, and the power of selecting suitable victims
for the _thlen_. The _nongshohnoh_ then sets out armed with a short
club, with which to slay the victim, hence his name _nongshohnoh_,
i.e. one who beats; for it is forbidden to kill a victim on these
occasions with any weapon made of iron, inasmuch as iron was the
metal which proved fatal to the _thlen_. He also takes the pair of
silver scissors above mentioned, a silver lancet to pierce the inside
of the nostrils of the deceased, and a small bamboo or cylinder to
receive the blood drawn therefrom. The _nongshohnoh_ also provides
himself with rice called "_u 'khaw tyndep_," i.e. rice mixed with
turmeric after certain incantations have taken place. The murderer
throws a little of this rice over his intended victim, the effect of
which is to stupefy the latter, who then falls an easy prey to the
_nongshohnoh_. It is not, however, always possible to kill the victim
outright for various reasons, and then the _nongshohnoh_ resorts to the
following subterfuge:--He cuts off a little of the hair, or the hem
of the garment, of a victim, and offers these up to the _thlen_. The
effect of cutting off the hair or the hem of the garment of a person
by a _nongshohnoh_, to offer up to the _thlen_, is disastrous to the
unfortunate victim, who soon falls ill, and gradually wastes away and
dies. The _nongshohnoh_ also sometimes contents himself with merely
throwing stones at the victim, or with knocking at the door of his
house at night, and then returns home, and, after invoking the _thlen_,
informs the master that he has tried his best to secure him a prey,
but has been unsuccessful. This is thought to appease the _thlen_
for a time, but the demon does not remain inactive long, and soon
manifests his displeasure for the failure of his keeper to supply
him with human blood, by causing one of the latter's family to fall
sick. The _thlen_ has the power of reducing himself to the size of
a