Chap. IV.] NATIVE JUGGLER. 18,5 



perch, and then opened his exhibition. Tliis consisted of 

 endless efforts of legerdemain : catching pebbles tlirown 

 up to him by his confederate below, which, upon open- 

 ing his closed hand, flew away as birds ; breaking an 

 egg-shell, and allowing a small serpent to escape from it 

 and keeping a series of brass balls in motion by strik- 

 ing them with his elbows, as well as his hands. 

 Balancing on his nose a small stick with an inverted 

 cup at top, from which twelve perforated balls were 

 suspended by silken cords, he placed twelve ivory rods 

 in his mouth, and so guided them by his hps and 

 tongue, as to insert the end of each in a corresponding 

 aperture in the ball, till the whole twelve were sus- 

 tained by the rods, and the central support taken away. 

 This and endless other tricks he performed, balancing 

 himself all the ichile on the single pole on which he stood. 

 He took a ball of granite, six or seven inches in 

 diameter, and probably fourteen pounds' weiglit, and 

 standing with his arms extended in hne, he rolled it 

 from the wrist of one hand across his shoulders to the 

 wrist of the other backwards and forwards repeatedly, 

 apparently less by raising his arms than by a vigorous 

 effort of the muscles of his back ; then seizing it in both 

 hands, he flung it repeatedly twenty feet high, and 

 watching it in its descent till within a few inches of his 

 skull, he bent forward his head, and caught the ball 

 each time between liis shoulders ; then bounding alons^ 

 the road, still mounted on his pole, he closed his perfor- 

 mance amidst the smiles of the audience.^ 



^ The artists on these occasions performers in the island, described by 



are always Tamils; and it may be .J ambidus, says, the flexibility of tlu>ir 



regarded as a fm-ther evidence of limbs was such, that thoy stH'med to 



the eiTor already adverted to {ante, \ consist of muscle rather' than bone : 



Vol. I. Pt. V. ch. i. p. 532) in sup- j '\'d ^i oared tov awi^arog txtn' tTrl Troauf 



posing- that the stoiy of Jambulus, ! KciinrToniva koI Trakiv aTzoKaQtarn^iva 



as told by Diodorus, relates to Ceylon j Trapa-n-Xj^aiwi: toXq vivpio^fm. The pas- 



— that the Singhalese have never i sage is fm-ther remarkable, as it evi- 



been noted for their skill in jugglei-y ! dently describes an exhibition of 



and legerdemain, although these arts j vcnfrilorjuism, and is proljably th(> 



are brought to high perfection in i earliest mention of that art " upon 



Hindustan and other countries around record. Sudi appears to have been 



them. DiODORU.s, in speaking of the | their skill, that Jambulus was im- 



