I have a vivid recollection of this faith in 1899, when astrologers foretold all kinds of disasters. They were to culminate in November, when a great nation was to be submerged and lost; plague and famine were to devastate the land, and on the 13th of the month the end of the world was to come. Propitiatory offerings and prayers were made by people of all castes and religions, who, when they found that the catastrophes prophesied did not come to pass, declared that the gods had listened and intervened to save men from the threatened evil. It may, perhaps, be remembered that just at this period troubles in Africa occurred which ended in the loss to the Boers of their country. The prediction of the end of the world caused a great commotion throughout the island of Ceylon; so much so that many of the Buddhists withdrew their money from the banks and spent it on religious works. Singhalese and Tamils attended their places of
worship, and made offerings more frequently than usual. When the fatal 13th dawned the native merchants closed their shops, and the workmen belonging to the different mills and manufactories failed to appear. The day passed uneventfully; the gods had been merciful, and men returned to their daily routine happy and content.
No tragedy is without its stray straws of humour. For the next three months scarcely a chicken was to be had in the island, to the consternation of careful house-keepers. The old henwives of native villages had set no eggs.
'What is the good of wasting time over such foolishness? The gods will not ask fowls of us when they come,' they said.
So they curried the unfortunate hens that desired to sit, and realised on the fowls that were fit for roasting while the opportunity offered.
To return to the subject of the possessed. There was
