Peculiar Forms of Taking an Oath.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 14 August 1914, Page 2

Peculiar Forms of Taking an Oath.

One of the most peculiar forms of taking the oath is (hat practised by the Nagas in Assam. Two men take hold of a dog by the head and feet, when with a single blow it. is cut in twain with a chopper, this^ieing emblematic of the fate in store for the false swearer. Similarly chopping off a cock's head is said to be the most solemn way of getting- a Chinaman to swear truly. Judging, however, from witnesses in the police-courts, there appear to'be several ways of taking an oath in China. One is by breaking a saucer ; while another is blowing out a lighted caudle, his soul being blown away like the light if he failed to speak the truth. Many of the jungle tribes of India swear upon a tiger's skin, as they believe that then a false witness is sure to become food for tigers. Some Hindus think it better to be sworn while standing on a lizard's skin, and invite the scaliness of that reptile to come upon them if they forswear themselves ; others take the oath over an ant-hill, with an imprecation that if they swear falsely may they be reduced to powder.