"Of course those stories are hard to understand, but the missionaries on the Melanesian Islands vouch for many things similar to that. In 1871, Bishop Patterson, one of the missionaries, was murdered by the natives of those islands, and many of the facts in regard to their customs were then established."
"But how do they work the vele?"
"The place where the vele is worked to the most unlimited extent is in the Island of Guadalcaner, one of the Solomon Islands, although it has its counterpart in many other places. The vele rattler is carefully kept in a bamboo box, and when the owner wishes to destroy an enemy he takes the vele, and searches for him.
"In doing so he must not be seen by any one. If he is seen the vele will not be effective. When he finds his enemy the vele is pointed to the man, and the rattles shaken, and while doing so the one exorcising the spell must turn his face away and utter curses. As soon as his enemy hears this, he turns to see who has veleed him, and he then glances around to see if any one has seen the vele."
"Are you sure that the rattle is for that purpose?"
"There is no question of it, and it is an evidence that the natives are intensely superstitious, and such people are very difficult to deal with."
"I suppose we shall have witch doctors to deal with here?" asked George.
"That is a very natural supposition."
"Did you see some of these things when you came over here yesterday?"