The mythology of the Roumanians agrees with that of the gypsies. It is sylvan, and Indian. In deep pools of water lurks the dreadful balaur or Wodna muz--i.e., the Waterman (Muz is both gypsy and Slavonian)--who lies in wait for victims. In every forest lives the mama padura, or weshni dye--"the forest mother"--who is believed to be benevolent to human beings, especially towards children who have lost their way in the wood. But the Panusch is an amorous spirit who, like the wanton satyrs of old, haunts the silent woodland shades, and lies in wait for helpless maids. "Surely," observes Mrs. Gerard, "this is a corruption of 'great Pan,' who is not dead after all, but merely banished to the land beyond the forest." What a find this would have been for Heine when writing "The Gods in Exile"! "In deep forests and lonely mountain gorges there wanders about a wild huntsman of superhuman size." He appears to be of a mysterious nature, and is very seldom seen. Once he met a peasant who had shot ninety-nine bears, and warned him never to attempt to kill another. But the peasant disregarded his advice, and, missing his aim, was torn in pieces by the bear. Very singular is the story that this Lord of the Forest once taught a hunter--that if he loaded his gun on New Year's Night with a live adder he would never miss a shot during the ensuing year. It is not probable that he was told to put a live and "wiggling" snake into his gun. The story of itself suggests the firing out the ramrod for luck. It has been observed by C. Lloyd Morgan that if a drop of the oil of a foul tobacco pipe be placed in the mouth of a snake the muscles instantly become set in knotted lumps and the creature becomes rigid. If much is given the snake dies, but if only a small amount is employed it may be restored. This, as Mr. Oakley has suggested, may explain the stories of Indian snake-charmers being able to turn a snake into a stick. It is performed by spitting into the snake's mouth and then placing the hand on its head till it becomes stiffened. "The effect may be produced by opium or some other narcotic." And it may also occur to the reader that the jugglers who performed before Pharaoh were not unacquainted with this mystery. It is probable that the hunter in the gypsy Roumanian story first gave his adder tobacco before firing it off. The Om ren, or wild man, is a malevolent forest spectre, the terror of hunters and shepherds. He is usually seen in winter, and when he finds an intruder on his haunts, he tears up pine trees by the roots with which he slays the victim, or throws him over a precipice, or overwhelms him with rocks. In every detail he corresponds to a being greatly feared by the Algonkin Indians of America.