ry disease and he must be propitiated in a
particular manner. While practicing his profession the shaman contorts
his body and dances like one insane, and howls worse than a dozen
Kamchadale dogs. He is dressed in a fantastic manner and beats a
tambourine during his performance. To accommodate himself to the
different spirits he modulates his voice, changes the character of his
dance, and alters his costume. Both doctor and patient are generally
decked with wood-shavings while the work is going on.

Sometimes an effigy of the sick person is prepared, and the spirit is
charmed from the man of flesh to the one of straw. The shaman induces
him to take up lodgings in this effigy, and the success of his
persuasion is apparent when the invalid recovers. If the patient dies
the shaman declares that the spirit was one over which he had no
control, but he does not hesitate to take pay for his services.

[Illustration: PRACTICE OF MEDICINE.]

A Russian traveler who witnessed one of these exorcisms said that the
shaman howled so fearfully that two Chinese merchants who were present
out of curiosity fled in very terror. The gentleman managed to endure
it to the end, but did not sleep well for a week afterward.

The Gilyaks believe in both good and evil spirits, but as the former
do only good it is not thought necessary to pay them any attention.
All the efforts are to induce the evil spirits not to act. They are
supposed to have power over hunting, fishing, household affairs, and
the health and well-being of animals and men. The shamans possess
great power over their superstitious subjects, and their commands are
rarely refused. I heard of an instance wherein a native caught a fine
sable and preserved the skin as a trophy. Very soon a man in the
village fell ill. The shaman after practicing his art announced that
the spirit commanded the sable skin to be worn by the doctor himself.
The valuable fur was given up without hesitation. A Russian traveler
stopping one night in a Gilyak house discovered in the morning that
his sledge was missing, and was gravely told that the spirit had taken
it.

In 1814 the small pox raged in one of the tribes living on the Kolyma
river, and the deaths from it were numerous. The shamans practiced all
their mysteries, and invoked the spirits, but they could not stop the
disease. Finally, after new invocations, they declared the evil
spirits could not be appeased without the death of Kotschen, a chie