THE RAINS 139 



only drunk, and then largely diluted with water. Un- 

 like opium, instead of impairing, it increases the 

 appetite, and, so far from causing emaciation, its effect 

 is to produce corpulence. It was to his indulgence in 

 bhung that my friend the zemeendar, I was told, owed 

 his unusual plumpness. 



It is also said to increase the breathing power of the 

 lungs under exertion ; and on this account it is much 

 consumed by athletes when in training, especially so by 

 the Brahmins at the various places of pilgrimage, for 

 these Brahmins, leading the idlest of lives, amuse them- 

 selves a good deal in wrestling, running races, and 

 other such-like exercises. 



At the same time the drug utterly ruins the nerves. 

 The drinker of bhung, it is said, will start at a 

 shadow, and if a bird flies by him, will shrink in terror, 

 as from a missile thrown at him. 



Two lower styles of drugs are " churrus " and " ganja." 

 I used to know their composition, but have forgotten it. 

 They are both horribly deleterious, and their use is 

 regarded as disreputable. They have the effect of 

 imparting a most offensive odour to the person and 

 to the breath of those who indulge in them. 



There was in former times a horrible drug, often 

 mentioned in the histories, termed " poshtah." If 

 drunk daily, after no long time it caused idiocy. On 

 that account it was under the Mogul rule often forcibly 

 administered to state prisoners whom it was desired 

 to render harmless, especially to such as had been, or 

 might be, rival claimants to the throne. An affecting 

 story is related by the traveller Bernier in regard to one 



