330 HAUNTS AND HOBBIES 



most marvellous. They are by the natives, even by 

 the educated natives, attributed to magic. It is con- 

 sidered that the performers, the acrobats in especial, do 

 not really perform their tricks. They merely create an 

 illusion that causes the spectators to imagine that they 

 behold them. 



Very much the same idea was entertained by the 

 early Europeans who visited India, only they attributed 

 the performances not to magic, but to satanic agency. 

 It is mentioned by one of the early travellers that the 

 chaplain to the English mercantile factory at Agra was 

 so convinced that Satan himself assisted these jugglers, 

 that he refused the sacrament to any of his congre- 

 gation who should witness their exhibitions. In order 

 to properly appreciate the skill of the Indian jugglers, 

 it must be remembered that their tricks are performed 

 without apparatus, generally with bare arms, and in the 

 open air, and in the brilliant Indian sunshine. 



Most of the tricks of the Indian jugglers have been 

 described, but the following I have never seen noticed, ^ 

 nor did I ever happen to meet any European who had 

 witnessed it, nor did I myself ever see it performed 

 except on one occasion, and that was soon after my 

 arrival in the country. The trick was this. A hole 

 was dug in the ground about two feet deep, and as 

 much across ; it was filled with water to the brim. The 

 performer, a young woman, then advanced to the hole. 

 She wore, as all native women do, a small ring in her 

 nose ; she took out the ring and dropped it into the 

 water ; then she lay down, her back on the ground, 

 her arms folded across her chest. Her head was over 



