PHANTASMS OF THE SEA.
In all parts of the world there is a firm belief among many of the people living in lonely spots on the coast, that the sea and rocks are haunted by the earth-bound spirits of the drowned, and often when I have been walking alone at night along the cliffs or sandy beaches between Bude and Clovelly, and Lamorna and the Land's End, Dalkey and Bray and Lunan Bay, I have heard the rising and falling of ghostly voices from over the deserted, star-lit sea—voices that may either have come from the superphysical bodies of those who lay engulfed there, or from Impersonating Elementals.
I have repeatedly heard it said that in the grey hours of the morning all sorts of queer filmy shapes rise out of the sea and glide over the silent strand.
Mr. Dyer, in his Ghost World, refers to "The Bay of the Departed" in Brittany, where boatmen are summoned by some unseen power to launch their boats and to ferry to some island near at hand the souls of the men who have been drowned. In this bay, too, the wails and cries of the phantasms of shipwrecked sailors are clearly heard in the dead of night. So strong is the antipathy of the seafaring community in many parts of Brittany to the sea coast that none will approach it after nightfall.
Mr. Hunt, in his Romances of West of England, says that one night when a fisherman was walking along the sands at Porth-Towan, he suddenly heard a voice cry out three times from the sea, "The hour is come, but not the man," whereupon a black figure, like that of a man, appeared on the top of the hill, paused for a moment, and then, rushing impetuously down the steep incline, over the sand, vanished amid the gently lapping waves.
The figure, of course, may have been the actual earth-bound spirit of someone who was once drowned in that spot, or it may have been an impersonating or Vice Elemental attracted to that spot by some tragedy that had taken place there; since I have heard of many similar instances of tall, thin figures bounding over cliffs or across sandy beaches, vanishing in the sea, I conclude such phenomena are by no means uncommon.
In certain parts of the Norfolk coast it is still, I believe, affirmed that before any person is drowned a voice is heard from the sea predicting a squall, and a great reluctance is still shown in many countries to rescue anyone from drowning, since it is popularly supposed that the drowning person will at some time or another injure his rescuer—an idea which should certainly be discouraged, whether there is any truth in it or not. But the sea certainly has a peculiar fascination for most people, and, I feel sure, it possesses a species of Elemental peculiar to itself. Those Elementals probably resent the rescue of their would-be victims, and use the latter as a means of wreaking their vengeance on the rescuer!
HAUNTED TREES.
Cases of trees haunted by particularly grotesque kinds of phantasms (presumably Vagrarians, Vice Elementals, and Neutrals) are numerous.
A few years ago, a Mrs. Cayley told me that when riding along a certain road in India, she had the greatest difficulty in making her horse pass a particular tree, and that on mentioning the matter to a native servant, the man at once exclaimed, "Allah preserve you, mem-sahib, from ever passing near that tree. A dog-faced man sits at the base of the trunk, and, with his long arms outstretched, watches for passers-by. He springs upon them, half frightens them to death, and overwhelms them with misfortune. If ever you come within the clutches of the dog-faced spirit, mem-sahib, you will shortly afterwards meet with some dire calamity. The horse has second sight, mem-sahib; it can see the spirit and its evil nature, and has no desire to place either itself or you within its clutches. Be wise, mem-sahib, and never go near that tree!"