the annoyances suggested as existing.

Indeed, it even happened that a sorcerer would be secretly retained to
work spells upon a victim, who, from his bodily sensations, suspecting
something wrong, but knowing not what, would repair to that self-same
sorcerer, engaging him to counteract any mischief that might be
brewing. And this worthy would at once undertake the business; when,
having both parties in his hands, he kept them forever in suspense;
meanwhile seeing to it well, that they failed not in handsomely
remunerating him for his pains.

At one time, there was a prodigious excitement about these sorcerers,
growing out of some alarming revelations concerning their practices.
In several villages of Minda, they were sought to be put down. But
fruitless the attempt; it was soon discovered that already their
spells were so spread abroad, and they themselves so mixed up with the
everyday affairs of the isle, that it was better to let their vocation
alone, than, by endeavoring to suppress it, breed additional troubles.
Ah! they were a knowing and a cunning set, those sorcerers; very hard
to overcome, cajole, or circumvent.

But in the name of the Magi, what were these spells of theirs, so
potent and occult? On all hands it was agreed, that they derived their
greatest virtue from the fumes of certain compounds, whose
ingredients--horrible to tell--were mostly obtained from the human
heart; and that by variously mixing these ingredients, they adapted
their multifarious enchantments.

They were a vain and arrogant race. Upon the strength of their dealing
in the dark, they affected even more mystery than belonged to them;