TEMPLE OF JUGGERNAUT. 4Qi 



the blood is made. The people threw cowries, or small money, 

 on the body of tin- victim, in approbation of the deed. He was 

 left to view a considerable time, and was then carried by the Hur. 

 ries to the Golgotha, where I have just been viewing his remains. 

 How much I wished that the proprietors of India stock could 

 have attended the wheels of Juggernaut, and seen this peculiar 

 ource of their revenue." 



" Juggernaut, 20/A June, 1806. 



, " Molloch, horrid king, besmeared with blood 

 " Of human srcrificc, and parents' tears. MILTON. 



" The horrid solemnities still continue. Yesterday a wo. 



man devoted herself to the idol. She laid herself down on the 

 road in an oblique direction, so that the wheel did not kill her 

 instantaneously, as is generally the case ; but she died in a few 

 hours. This morning as I passed the Place of Skulls, nothing 

 remained of her but her bones. 



" And this, thought I, is the worship of the Brahmins of Hin- 

 dostan, and their worship in its sublimest degree ! What then shall 

 we think of their private manners, and their moral principles ! 

 For it is equally true of India as of Europe. If you would know 

 the state of the people, look at the state of the Temple. 



ft I was surprised to see the Brahmins with their heads unco, 

 vered in the open plain falling down in the midst of the Sooders 

 before ' the horrid shape,' and mingling so complacently with 

 ' that polluted cast.' But this proved what I have before heard, 

 that so great a god is this, that the dignity of high cast disappears- 

 before him. This great king recognises no distinction of rank 

 among his subjects, all men are equal in his presence." 



"Juggernaut, Z]st June, 1806. 



" The idolatrous processions continue for some days longer, 

 but my spirits are so exhausted by the constant view of these enor- 

 mities, that I mean to hasten away from this place sooner than I 

 at first intended. I beheld another distressing scene this morning 

 at the Place of Skulls ; a poor woman lying dead, or nearly dead, 

 and her two children by her, looking at the dogs and vultures 

 which were near. The people passed by without noticing 

 the children. I asked them where was their home. They said, 



