The Shánárs of India believe that disembodied spirits haunt the earth, dwelling in trees and taking especial delight in dark forests and solitary places.[139] When a Burman starts upon a journey he hangs a branch of plantains or a spray of the sacred _Eugenia_ on the pole of his buffalo cart, to conciliate any spirit upon whom he may be unfortunate enough to intrude. The hunter following his lonely quest in the forest will deposit some rice and a little bundle of leaves at the foot of any more than usually majestic tree, hoping thereby to propitiate the _nat_ or spirit dwelling therein.[140] Something of the same fear is felt by the peasants for the fairies, elves, pixies, and all the tribe of little people familiar to European folk-lore. These, too, are all more or less associated with trees, being supposed to dwell either amongst the branches or in the hollow trunks. German elves have a partiality for the oak and elder, and the holes in the trunks are the doorways by which they pass in and out. A similar idea exists amongst the Hindus. Though, as a rule, these forest-elves bear a good character, they are not to be lightly offended, or more will be heard of it. Hence prudent country-folk will never injure trees inhabited by fairies, for when aggrieved they have ample means of avenging themselves by inflicting some malady or causing some ill-luck. Even in England, especially in Devon and Cornwall, there still exist people who believe that oaks are inhabited by elves— Fairy elves, whose midnight revels By a forest side or fountain Some belated peasant sees. And it is not yet quite an obsolete custom to turn the coat for luck when passing through elf-haunted groves. It was on St. John’s eve that the fairies held their special revels, and in old days many a timorous hand might be found attaching to his doorway branches of St. John’s wort, gathered at midnight on St. John’s eve, to protect his dwelling from an invasion of elves. Similarly the peasants living near Mount Etna never sleep beneath trees on St. John’s eve, lest the spirits who then issue freely from their leafy dwelling-places should enter into the sleeper.[141]