I did so.

Going to the fire, he lit the lock of hair in the flame, and let it burn to ashes, which he caught in his left hand.

These ashes he mixed up in a paste with the juice of one of the leaves of the plant I have spoken of.
"Now, Macumazahn, shut your eyes," he said.
I did so, and he rubbed his paste on to my eyelids.

At first it burnt me, then my head swam strangely.

Presently this effect passed off, and my brain was perfectly clear again, but I could not feel the ground with my feet.