“The woman, who but a moment before was outdoing all the party, both in the dance and in running, now lies stretched on the ground helpless and emaciated, as if after a long illness. She faintly calls for water, which is given her; and when a little restored, she is asked her name, which she answers correctly; and as a conclusive proof of her freedom from the power of the Evil One, she is requested to repeat the formerly so much dreaded words—‘_B’ism Ab, ou Weld, ou Menfus Kouddos_’ (in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost). A sheep or a fowl is killed, broiled on the embers, and eaten with bread. The patient’s friends partake of this food when the devil goes out of her. The bones and remains of the meat are burned with fire, and the fragments of the bread buried in the ground. These are so left for the devil, that if he should come back to the place he may remain and feed, and not go on and bother the woman. Thus is the cure complete, though it often takes a considerable time to effect it.” The characteristics of the disease have been mentioned fully because they seem to have some bearing on certain Biblical episodes. Sometimes, in the case of _bouda_, recourse is had to a very simple and direct method of cure. Parkyns wrote:—“Many instances have been related to me, wherein the friends of the possessed, having procured charms of sufficient power to force the spirit to declare his name and residence, but not equal to turning him out, went at once to the place indicated, and, seizing on the blacksmith, brought him forcibly to their home, where, having fed him well, he was commanded to quit his victim, and at the same time his life was threatened, lances being pointed at his breast.”[250] It is not stated whether this procedure is effective. Mr. Wylde dismissed the demon lightly:—“The _bouda_, or evil spirit, that attacks some of the young women, nearly always ugly virgins or hysterical and plain-looking girls that men will never notice, is to my mind the greatest fraud of all their superstitions. Every one has written about it, and I am afraid that they have drawn a good deal on their imagination, and the missionaries who have visited the country have, perhaps, been quite as bigoted as the people they have tried to describe. I believe that these peculiar fits which the women have, when they do all sorts of filthy things, are nothing more than hysteria; many women even in civilized countries are not responsible for their actions when suffering from these complaints, and people who are inclined to believe in the miraculous take for granted what the ignorant peasantry say. I have seen several young women suffering from the ‘_bouda_’ and a bucket of cold water that I have thrown over them, and a good smacking from my servant, has soon sent the devil away, and the only after effect has been that they have been sulky, because they were not made much of.”[251]