Zahuris (or Zahories)

French people who had traveled in Spain frequently had curious tales to tell concerning the Zahuris —people who were so keen-sighted that they could see streams of water and veins of metal hidden in the earth and could indicate the whereabouts of buried treasure and the bodies of murdered persons.

Explanations were offered on natural lines. It was said that these men knew where water was to be found by the vapors arising at such spots, and that they were able to trace mines of gold, silver, and copper by the particular herbs growing in their neighborhood. But to the Spaniards, such explanations were unsatisfactory; they persisted in believing that the Zahuris were gifted with supernatural faculties, that they were in rapport with demons, and that, if they wished, they could, without any physical aid, read thoughts and discover secrets that were as a sealed book to the grosser senses of ordinary mortals. The Zahuris were said to have red eyes, and in order to be a Zahuri it was necessary to have been born on a Good Friday.