Chapter IV: The Sacæa as a Period of Licence (4)

Suddenly, and as if Pandemonium had been let loose, the
air was filled with savage yells; a throng of natives
surrounded the oven, and in a most ingenious and effective
way proceeded to drag out the smouldering unburnt logs and
cast them some distance away. Large loops of incombustible
lianas attached to long poles were dexterously thrown
over the burning trunks, much after the manner of the
head-hunters of New Guinea when securing their human prey.
A twist or two round of the loop securely entangled the
logs, which were then dragged out by the united efforts
of scores of natives, who all the while were shouting
out some wild rhythmical song. This accomplished, the
stones at the bottom of the oven were disclosed, with here
and there flame flickering and forking up through the
interstices. The diameter of the area occupied by those
stones was about 10 ft., but this was speedily increased
to a spread of 15 ft. or more by a second ingenious
method. The natives thrust their long poles, which were
of the unconsumable wi-tree (_Spondias dulcis_), between
the stones at intervals of perhaps 1 ft. A long rope-like
liana--_wa_--previously placed underneath the poles, and
1 ft. or 2 ft. from their extremities, was now dragged
by scores of lusty savages, with the effect of spreading
and levelling the stones. This done, our thermometer
was suspended by a simple device over the centre of the
stones, and about 5 ft. or 6 ft. above them; but it had
to be withdrawn almost immediately, as the solder began
to melt and drop, and the instrument to be destroyed. It,
however, registered 282° Fahr., and it is certain that had
not this accident occurred, the range of 400° would have
been exceeded, and the thermometer burst.

During all these wild scenes we had seen nothing of the
main actors--of the descendants of Na Galita. Doubtless
to give more impressive effect, they had been hiding in
the forest depths until the signal should be given and
their own supreme moment arrive. And now they came on,
seven or eight in number, amidst the vociferous yells of
those around. The margin reached, they steadily descended
the oven slope in single file, and walked, as I think,
leisurely, but as others of our party think, quickly,
across and around the stones, leaving the oven at the
point of entrance. The leader, who was longest in the
oven, was a second or two under half a minute therein.
Almost immediately heaps of the soft and succulent leaves
of the hibiscus, which had been gathered for the purpose,
were thrown into the oven, which was thus immediately
filled with clouds of hissing steam. Upon the leaves and
within the steam the natives, who had returned, sat or
stood pressing them down in preparation for cooking the
various viands which were to afford them a sumptuous feast
that evening or on the morrow.

But for us the most interesting part of the drama was
over, and it only remained to review observations and
draw conclusions. Just before the great event of the
day, I gained permission to examine one or two of the
fire-walkers prior to their descent into the oven. This
was granted without the least hesitation by the principal
native magistrate of the Rewa district, N'Dabea by name,
but generally known as Jonathan. This native is of great
intelligence and influence, is a member of the Na Galita
Clan, and has himself at various times walked through
the fire. On this occasion he took no other part in the
ceremony than that of watching or superintending it. The
two men thus sent forward for examination disclosed no
peculiar feature whatever. As to dress, they were slightly
garlanded round the neck and the waist; the pulse was
unaffected, and the skin, legs, and feet were free from
any apparent application. I assured myself of this by
touch, smell, and taste, not hesitating to apply my tongue
as a corroborative. The foot-soles were comparatively soft
and flexible--by no means leathery and insensible. Thus
the two Suvan theories were disposed of. This careful
examination was repeated immediately after egress from
the oven, and with the same result. To use the language
of Scripture, 'No smell of fire had passed upon them.' No
incantations or other religious ceremonial were observed.
Though these were formerly practised, they have gradually
fallen into disuse since the introduction of Christianity.
I did not succeed in procuring the old incantation
formula; doubtless it was similar to that of the old
Raiatean ceremony, which is given in the second volume of
the 'Polynesian Society's Journal,' p. 106.

Whilst walking through the fire, Dr. Colquhoun thought the
countenances of the fire-walkers betrayed some anxiety.
I saw none of this; nor was it apparent to me at either
examination. The stones, which were basaltic, must have
been white-hot, but due to the brilliance of the day this
was not visible.

Various natives, being interrogated for an explanation,
replied, with a shrug, 'They can do this wonderful thing;
we cannot. You have seen it; we have seen it.' Whilst
thus unable to suggest any explanation or theory, I am
absolutely certain as to the truth of the facts and the
_bona fides_ of the actors. A feature is that, wherever
this power is found, it is possessed by but a limited few.
I was assured, too, that any person holding the hand of
one of the fire-walkers could himself pass through the
oven unharmed. This the natives positively assert.

My friend Mr. Walter Carew, for thirty years a Resident
Commissioner and Stipendiary Magistrate in Fiji, has
frequently conversed with Jonathan (referred to above),
who, whilst withholding no explanation, can give none. He
says, 'I can do it, but I do not know how it is done;'
and, further, that at the time he does not experience any
heat or other sensation.

Does any psychical condition explain these facts, as
suggested in Lang's 'Modern Mythology'?[11] I certainly
did not observe any appearance of trance or other mental
condition. In connection with this Mr. Carew thinks that
intense faith is the explanation, and that if this were
upset, the descendants of Na Galita would be no longer
charmed. But it is difficult to see how any mental state
can prevent the action of physical law. Hypnotism and
anæsthetics may produce insensibility to pain, but do not
interfere with the cautery.

Many of the so-called fire miracles are remarkable indeed,
but are readily explained, and by no means come within
the present category. Such, for instance, as plunging
the hand, which is protected by the interposed film of
perspiration assuming the globular state of water, into
boiling lead. Similarly, many conjuring feats. At the
beginning of this century an Italian--Lionetti--performed
remarkable experiments: rubbed a bar of red-hot iron over
his arms, legs, and hair, and held it between his teeth;
he also drank boiling oil. Dr. Sementini, of Naples,
carefully examined these experiments, and experimented
himself until he surpassed the fireproof qualities of his
suggestor. He found that frequent friction with sulphurous
acid rendered him insensible to red-hot iron; a solution
of alum did the same. A layer of powdered sugar covered
with soap made his tongue insensible to heat. In these
and similar instances, however, an explanation, though
probably not a very sufficient one, has been given, but
in that forming the subject of this paper no solution has
been offered. Lang's chapter on the 'Fire Walk' should be
consulted; his account of the Bulgarian Nistinares is as
wonderful and inexplicable as anything here recited. The
whole subject requires thorough scientific examination.

My next case occurs among a civilised race, the Japanese, and is vouched for by Mr. Lafcadio Hearn, an American writer, whose book I have not at hand, and by Colonel Andrew Haggard.[12] Colonel Haggard saw the fire-walk done in Tokio, on April 9, 1899. The fire was 6 yards long by 6 ft wide. The rite was in honour of a mountain god. Ablutions in cold water were made by the performers, and Colonel Haggard was told by one young lady that she had not only done the fire-walk, but had been 'able to sit for a long time, in winter, immersed in ice-cold water, without feeling the cold in the least.' After some waving of wands and sprinkling of salt, people of all ages walked through, not glowing stones in this case, but 'red-hot charcoal.' 'I examined their feet afterwards: they were quite soft, and not a trace of fire upon them.' Colonel Haggard says that the rite is 'a very unusual thing' in Japan: many of the Japanese living in Tokio had never heard of it before. Colonel Haggard was unable to get any clear answer as to why the rite is performed. The priest talked something about a good God who had power over the bad element of fire. It is not clear how, the rite being so unusual, two Japanese ladies told Colonel Haggard that they had 'frequently gone through the fiery ordeal.'

If any one is anxious to know the particulars of the rite as practised in the isle Mauritius, he may communicate with our police officials there, who annually superintend the performance. Coolies from southern India do just what is done by Japanese and Fijians. Our administration, however, does not permit women to pass through the fire.

After giving these recent examples in Mauritius, Japan, Rarotonga, and an isle of the Fijian group, I am obliged to fall back on the evidence already set forth in Chapter XII. of my book, 'Modern Mythology' (1897). The Bulgarian practice I take from the 'Recueil de Folklore, de Littérature et de Science,' edited by the Bulgarian Minister of Public Instruction, with the aid of Drs. Schischmanof (whom I know personally) and Mastov. In a private letter, Dr. Schischmanof hints at _extase religieuse_, as in the self-mutilations of Dervishes and Fakirs. _Their_ performances are extraordinary enough, but there was no religious ecstasy in the little Japanese boy of six, whom Colonel Haggard saw pass through the fire, none in Colonel Gudgeon, none in the Fijians observed by Dr. Hocken. The fire-walkers in Bulgaria are called _Nistinares_, and the faculty is regarded as _hereditary_. We find the same opinion in Fiji, in ancient Italy, and in the Spain of the last century. In Spain the fire-walkers were employed to help to put out fires. The story is given in the essay on the last Earl Marischal in my 'Companions of Pickle' (p. 24), and is derived from d'Alembert's account of the Earl: 'There is a family or caste in Spain, who, from father to son, have the power of going into the flames without being burned, and who, by dint of charms permitted by the Inquisition, can extinguish fires.' The Duchess of Medina Sidonia thought this a proof of the verity of the Catholic faith, and, wishing to convert the Earl, asked him to view the performance. But he insisted on lighting the fire himself, and to that the Spaniards would not consent, the Earl being a heretic.

To return to the Bulgarian Nistinares, they dance in the fire on May 21, the feast of SS. Helena and Constantine. Great fires of scores of cartloads of dry wood are made. On the embers of those the Nistinares (who turn blue in the face) dance and utter prophecies, afterwards placing their feet in the muddy ground where libations of water have been poured forth. The report says nothing as to the state of their feet. The Nistinare begins to feel the effect of the fire after his face has resumed its wonted colour and expression.

As for India. I may cite Mr. Stokes, in 'The Indian Antiquary' (ii. 190); Dr. Oppert, in his 'Original Inhabitants of India' (p. 190); and Mr. Crookes, in 'Introduction to Popular Religion and Folklore in Northern India' (p. 10). Mr. Stokes uses evidence from an inquest on a boy that fell into the fire and died of his injuries, at Periyângridi. The fire-pit was 27 ft. long by 7 ft. bread, and a span in depth. Thirteen persons walked through. Mr. Stokes did not witness the performance (which is forbidden by our law), but explains that the fire 'would hardly injure the tough skin of the sole of a labourer's feet.' Yet it killed a boy!

The incredulous say that the fire-walkers smear their feet with oil from the fat of the green frog. Dr. Oppert, admitting that 'the heat is unbearable in the neighbourhood of the ditch,' says that the walkers 'as a rule do not do themselves much harm.' This is vague. Equally vague is the reference to rumours about a certain preservative ointment.'

In Trinidad. British West Indies, Mr. Henry K. St. Clair, writing to me, describes (September 14, 1890) the feat as performed by Indian coolie immigrants. He personally witnessed the rite, which was like that described to me by Mr. Stephen Ponder. In both cases the performers were Klings. The case witnessed by Mr. Ponder took place in the Straits Settlements, Province Wellesley. The trench was about 20 yards long by 6 ft. wide and 2 ft. deep. A pyre of wood, 4 or 5 ft. high, was lighted at noon; by 4 p.m. it was a bed of red-hot embers. The men, who with long rakes smoothed the ashes, could not stand the heat 'for more than a minute at a time.' A little way from the end of the trench was a hole full of water. Six coolies walked the whole length, and thence into the water. 'Not one of them showed the least sign of injury.' They had been prepared by a 'devil-doctor,' not a Brahmin. On a later occasion Mr. Ponder heard that one of them fell 'and was terribly burnt.'

In these cases, Trinidad (and Mauritius) and the Straits Settlements, the performers are South Indian coolies. In all cases there were multitudes of European spectators, except in Mauritius, where, I learn, Europeans usually take no interest in the doings of the heathen.

Turning to Tonga, we have the account of Miss Teuira Henry.[13] The sister and sister's child of Miss Henry have walked over the red-hot stones, as in the Rarotonga and Fijian cases. The ovens are 30 ft. in diameter. The performance was photographed by Lieutenant Morne, of the French Navy, and the original photograph was sent to the Editor of the 'Polynesian Journal,' with a copy from it by Mr. Barnfield, of Honolulu. The ceremony, preparatory to cooking the _ti_ plant, is religious, and the archaic hymn sung is full of obsolete words. Mr. Hastwell, of San Francisco, published a tract, which I have not seen, on the Raiatean rite, witnessed by himself. The stones were I heated to a red and white heat.' The natives 'walked leisurely across' five times; 'there was not even the smell of fire on their garments' (cited in the 'Polynesian Journal,' vol. ii. No. 3). There is corroborative evidence from Mr. N. J. Tone, from Province Wellesley, Straits Settlements, in the 'Polynesian Journal,' ii. 3, 193. He did not see the rite, arriving too late, but he saw the fire-pit, and examined the naked feet of the walkers. They were uninjured. Mr. Tone's evidence is an extract from his diary.

As to Fiji there are various accounts. The best is that of Mr. Basil Thomson, son of the late Archbishop of York. Mr. Thomson was an official in Fiji, and is a well-known anthropologist. His sketch in his 'South Sea Yarns' (p. 195, _et seq._) is too long for quotation. The rite is done yearly, before cooking the _masáwe_ (a _dracæna_) in the oven through which the clan Na Ivilankata walk. 'The pit was filled with a white-hot mass, shooting out little tongues of white flame.' 'The bottom of the pit was covered with an even layer of hot stones ... the tongues of flame played continually among them.' The walkers planted 'their feet squarely and firmly on each stone.' Mr. Thomson closely examined the feet of four or five of the natives when they emerged. 'They were cool and showed no trace of scorching, nor were their anklets of dried tree-fern burnt,' though 'dried tree-fern is as combustible as tinder.' 'The instep is covered with skin no thicker than our own, and we saw the men plant their insteps fairly on the stone.' A large stone was hooked out of the pit before the men entered, and one of the party dropped a pocket-handkerchief upon the stone 'when the first man leapt into the oven and snatched what remained of it up as the last left the stones.' Every fold that touched the stone was charred. Mr. Thomson kindly showed me the handkerchief. He also showed me a rather blurred photograph of the strange scene. It has been rudely reproduced in the 'Folk Lore Journal,' September 1895.

Such is part of the modern evidence; for the ancient, see 'Æneid,' xi. 784 _et seq._; Servius on the passage; Pliny, 'Hist. Nat.' vii. 2; Silius Italicus, v. 175. This evidence refers to the Hirpi of Mount Soracte, a class exempted from military service by the Roman Government, because, as Virgil makes Aruns say, 'Strong in faith we walk through the midst of the fire, and press our footsteps in the glowing mass.' The Hirpi, or wolves, were perhaps originally a totem group, like the wolf totem of Tonkaway Red Indians; they had, like the Tonkaway, a rite in which they were told to 'behave like wolves.'[14] The goddess propitiated in their fire-walk was Feronia, a fire-goddess (Max Müller), or a lightning goddess (Kuhn), or a corn goddess (Mannhardt). Each of these scholars bases his opinion on etymology.

I have merely given evidence for the antiquity, wide diffusion, and actual practice of this extraordinary rite. Neither physical nor anthropological science has even glanced at it (except in Dr. Hocken's case), perhaps because the facts are obviously impossible. I ought to make an exception for Sir William Crookes, but he, doubtless, was hallucinated, or gulled by the use of asbestos, or both. Perhaps Mr. Podmore can apply these explanations to the spectators whom I have cited. For my part, I remain without a theory, like all the European observers whom I have quoted. But, in my humble opinion, all the usual theories, whether of collective hallucination (photographic cameras being hallucinated), of psychical causes, of chemical application, of leathery skin on the soles of the feet, and so on, are inadequate. There remains 'suggestion.' Any hypnotist, with his patient's permission (in writing and witnessed), may try the experiment.

Since this paper was written I have seen an article, 'Les Dompteurs du Feu,' on the same topic, by Dr. Th. Pascal.[15] The first part of the essay is an extract from the 'Revue Théosophique Française.' No date is given, but the rite described was viewed at Benares on October 26, 1898. I am unable to understand whether Dr. Pascal is himself the spectator and narrator of the 'Revue Théosophique,' or whether he quotes (he uses marks of quotation) some other writer. The phenomena were of the usual kind, and the writer, examining the feet of two of the performers, found the skin of the soles fine and intact. In four cases, in which the performers had entered the fire after the procession--with the Master of the Ceremonies and two excited persons, who split cocoanuts with swords--had gone, there were slight cauterisations, healed two days later. The author of this passage speaks of a Brahmin (apparently 'the Master of the Ceremonies') who observed to Mr. Govinda Das, 'that the control of the fire was not so complete as usual, because the images of the sanctuary had been touched by Mahomedans and others in the crowd.'

The second case, not given with marks of quotation, occurred in the park of Maharajah Tagore on December 7, 1898. 'A Frenchman, the son of Dr. Javal of Paris, was present.' The narrator, '_nous_,' was also present, and went up after the rite to venture his hand in the furnace. He was warned that the Brahmin had left ten minutes before, and that 'the fire had recovered its activity.' The Maharajah, however, caused the ceremony to be repeated, and some minutes after all was ready. The narrator then traversed the fire, barefoot, at _un petit trot_, 'a little less than two paces a second.' As 100 yards can be run in ten seconds, this trot was remarkably slow. He felt in paces one and two a sensation of burning, in the five following paces a sensation of intense heat. There were three small brown marks on his feet, which formed blisters, but did not interfere with walking, and healed 'in some days.' He now learned that the Brahmin's _premier aide_ did the ceremony not quite successfully. He is convinced that, but for the ceremony, he would have been seriously injured.

The third case was at Benares in February 1899. Three Hindoos collided and fell in: neither they nor their clothes were burned.

The author clearly regards the performers of the ceremony as able 'to tame considerably the destructive energy of the fire.' This, of course, is the theory of the savage devotees. The ceremony was only a procession of sacred images carried in a glazed sanctuary, and words, not known to the spectator, were uttered by the Brahmin. Holy water was sprinkled, and a cocoanut was thrown into the oven. As has been said, incantations are pronounced in Fiji and elsewhere.[16]

The following case is recent: it is culled from 'The Daily Mail,' November 9, 1900.

ORDEAL BY FIRE

According to the 'Japan Herald,' on Monday last a party
of distinguished Americans (the American Minister and
his wife, two naval officers, and others) attended the
religious rites of the Ontake Jinsha, a powerful sect of
Shintoists.

A heap of burning charcoal was placed in a large furnace.
The officiating priest read a service over the fire,
after which the foreign visitors, to the number of seven,
including ladies, took off their shoes and walked over the
fire, their naked feet showing no sign of scorching.

The performance called forth, says the report, the
enthusiastic approval of the spectators.

Yet more recent is the next case, from Honolulu, the
reporter being Mr. Gorten, a correspondent of the 'Boston
Evening Transcript,' March 20, 1891. We quote the
passage:--

We have already witnessed still another strange sight
suggestive of necromancy and the incantations of the
East. Papa Ita, a Tahitan, has given us exhibitions of
the famous fire-walking which is still practised in the
South Sea Islands and parts of Japan and India. On the
vacant land swept a year ago by the Chinatown fire a great
elliptical pit was dug and a large quantity of wood placed
therein, on which were piled the lava rocks. All day the
fire burned till the stones were of a white heat; then
the white-haired native from Tahiti approached the fiery
furnace dressed in a robe of white tapa, with a girdle
and head-dress of the sacred ti leaves and a bundle of
leaves in his hand for a wand. Striking the ground with
the ti-leaf wand, he uttered an incantation in his own
language, which was a prayer to his gods to temper the
heat and allow him to pass; then calmly and deliberately,
with bare feet, he walked the length of the pit, bearing
aloft the ti-leaf wand. Pausing a moment on the other
side, he again struck the ground and returned over the
same fiery path. This was several times repeated, and he
even paused a few seconds when in the middle of the pit to
allow his picture to be taken. The stones were undoubtedly
hot and were turned by means of long poles just before the
walking, to have the hottest side up, and from between the
rocks the low flames were continually leaping up. The heat
that radiated to the spectators was intense. It was a fact
that others followed with shoes on, but no one could be
found to accept the standing offer of 500 dollars to any
one who would, with bare feet, follow Papa Ita. None but
natives of course believe there is anything supernatural,
but we cannot explain how he does it. It cannot be called
a fake, for he really does what he claims to do, and none,
so far, dare imitate him. The natives fall down before
him, as a great Kapuna, and many interested in the welfare
of the Hawaiians deplore these exhibitions, feeling it is
bad for the natives, in that it strengthens their old
bonds of superstition, to the undoing of much of the
advancement they have made. Just now Papa Ita is touring
the other islands of the group, and rumour has it that
his manager will take him to the Pan-American Exhibition
at Buffalo. In that case people in the States can see and
judge of this curious exhibition for themselves.

I end with the only instance (forwarded from a correspondent by Mr. T. S. O'Connor) of the ascertained use of an ointment to diminish the effect of the fire. Dr. Hocken and Colonel Gudgeon, as we saw, found no trace of this device; nor is it mentioned in the Japanese evidence.

Port of Spain, Trinidad, B.W.I., June 8, 1897.
You referred some time ago to the fire-walkers. I have
seen some of these gents performing quite recently, and
got an explanation from a coolie customer of ours who
watched the business with me. It seems they rub themselves
with an oil, made from the root of the tabicutch (don't
know the Latin name), which has the property of producing
profuse sweat, and the two combine, causing an oily
covering which warms very slowly and is difficult to dry
up by heat. But even then it is essential that the men be
good Stoics. I give the explanation for what it is worth,
but saw the preparation myself, and had some of the stuff
scraped off a man, who was ready for the rite, put it on
a piece of tin and held it in the fire, and it certainly
neither dried up nor got hot in a hurry.

It is clear that this explanation does not explain several of the cases wherein no anointing is used. We can only agree with Dr. Hocken that the performances deserve the study of physiologists and physicians. The explanation of Iamblichus, 'they walk on fire unharmed,' is that 'the god within them does not let fire harm them.' This implies that an exalted psychical condition of the performers secures their immunity. But in the cases where Europeans bore a part, and even in Dr. Hocken's examination of the natives, there was no sign of other than the normal mental condition. As fresh evidence comes in, it is perhaps not impossible that science will interest herself in the problem.

[1] _G. B_. iii. 307, 308, citing _Internationales Archiv für Ethnographie_ (1896), pp. 193-195.

[2] _G. B_. iii. 311, 312; Strabo, xii. 2-7, for Castabala in Cappadocia; Virgil, _Æn_. xi. 784; and Servius's Commentary.

[3] _Primitive Culture_, ii. p. 281.

[4] _Ibid._ ii. p. 429.

[5] _Ibid._ i. p. 85.

[6] See note at end of chapter.

[7] _Studies in Psychical Research_, pp. 58-59.

[8] Dr. Dozous timed the 'miracle.' Boissarie, _Lourdes_, p. 49.

[9] I have not seen this account.

[10] See also Mr. Thomson's _South Sea Yarns._

[11] I would now withdraw the suggestion in the light of recent evidence.

[12] _The Field_, May 20, 1899, p. 724.

[13] _Polynesian Journal_, vol. ii. No. 2, pp. 105-108.

[14] Serv. _Æneid_, vii. 800.

[15] _Annales des Sciences Psychiques_, July-August, 1899.

[16] In the _Wide World Magazine_ (December 1899), a Japanese lady describes the performance witnessed by Colonel Haggard, already cited.