Storia do Mogor 266.2.1

266.2.1

There was another case of a woman named Luiza Barboza. She was excessively corpulent, and therefore asked a sorcerer for some cure for this excess of fat. His orders were that she should take the stoutest slave-girl she had in her house, should bind her hand and foot, and place her on the ground flat, so that she could not move. Then she was to sit over the negress, and bathe herself, and not to rise up until the slave expired. This was done by Luiza Barboza. Next the sorcerer ordered that within eight days the corpse must be carried to the river. He handed to her some ointment to be applied to the soles of the feet; and while carrying away the body she fell into a quagmire and disappeared, a merited chastisement for her cruelty. It would take me a great deal of space to detail all the wiles of sorcerers that I have seen and heard, for they are infinite and quite common in Indian countries. I will tell one small instance that happened at Agrah to a Portuguese named Pero Gomes de Oliveira. He was friends with a sorcerer, whom he entreated to show him something of the art. To gratify him, the sorcerer took him with him at midnight outside the citadel, and advised him not to breathe a word, whatever he might see during that night, nor ask him any questions, until the sun had risen. If he disobeyed it would cost him his life. The inquisitive Portuguese accepted this condition, and in the company of the sorcerer left the city.