134 THIRTY-FIVE YEARS IN THE EAST. 



foof^, he slowly swallowed, in the presence of the assembl)^, 

 a rag of three fingers in breadth and thirty yards in length, 

 and afterwards extracted it, for the purpose of removing 

 all foreign matters from the stomach, having previously 

 rinsed the bowels in the manner I have before mentioned. 

 Ridiculous as this operation may appear to the reader, 

 Bnd as it appears, indeed, to me also, yet these artists 

 must of necessity be complete masters of their body and 

 its organism, and possess a more than ordinary power over 

 the muscles. We are scarcely capable of swallowing a 

 somewhat long piece of maccaroni if it is not well boiled 

 and moistened with butter, &c., to render it palatable. It 

 is probable, however, that they may have lost the sense of 

 taste, and their neck-muscles may be relaxed to such a 

 degree that the long linen strip does not meet with any 

 resistance in the throat. These preparations being nade, 

 the faqueer stopped all the natural openings in the body 

 with plugs of aromatic wax, placed back his tongue in the 

 manner I have before indicated, crossed his arms over his 

 breast, and thus suffocated himself, in the presence of a 

 multitude of spectators. On his exhumation, one of the 

 first operations is to draw his tongue into its natural 

 position ; after this, a warm aromatic paste, made from 

 pulse meal, is placed on his head, and air is injected into 

 his lungs and also through the ears, from which the plugs 

 are withdrawn. By this operation, the pellets in the nostrils 

 are driven out with considerable force and noise, and this is 

 considered the first symptom of his resuscitation. Friction is 

 then strenuously applied all over the body, and at length he 

 begins to breathe naturally, opens his eyes, and is gradual- 

 ly restored to conseiousness. It is related that, two hundred 

 and fifty years ago, in the time of the Gooroo Arjun Sing, a 

 Joghee faqueer was found in his tomb in a sitting posture, 

 at Umritsir, and was restored to life. This faqueer is 

 reported to have been below the ground for one hundred 

 years ; and when he revived, he related many circumstances 

 connected with the times in which he had lived. Whether 

 this tradition be true or false, it is impossible to say ; but 



