THE TOUR 329 



them with a cloth ; then, after a minute or so, they 

 raised the cloth, and there was the man beneath alive 

 and well as before. 



It was not only these seven Jogees who displayed 

 their skill before the Emperor. A young nobleman 

 exhibited a feat of manual dexterity, if we can believe 

 the Emperor's account of it, almost as surprising. But 

 this was on another occasion. He produced a small 

 glass bottle ; it was made of glass so delicate that the 

 slightest blow would break it. On the outer surface of 

 the bottle there was affixed the image of a butterfly 

 made of wax ; above the butterfly was fastened a single 

 peppercorn, and above the peppercorn a grain of rice : 

 a staff was then driven into the ground, and the glass 

 bottle with the wax butterfly, the peppercorn, and the 

 grain of rice placed on its summit. 



The young noble now retired to a distance with his 

 bow and three arrows. He shot one arrow ; the arrow 

 flew through the air, just touched the butterfly, and 

 carried it away; the next two arrows removed in 

 succession the peppercorn and the grain of rice : and 

 yet the glass bottle, delicate as it was, remained unhurt. 

 To show his admiration for this display of dexterity, 

 the Emperor appointed the young noble to a high 

 command in the army, and also bestowed on him in 

 marriage a niece of the Empress Noor Jehan. 



Making allowance for exaggeration and rejecting the 

 descriptions that are manifestly incredible, I do not 

 think that the conjuring performances of the Jogees 

 could have been more surprising than those of the 

 modern Indian jugglers. Some of these are certainly 



